IG Fic Series 2013 Book Six : Urban Legends
by Aline Riva
Summary: Gadget's decision to keep the removable chip containing his memories of the other timeline proves to be a grave mistake, when Felix Todd accidentally downloads the contents and becomes convinced Sanford Scolex is a dangerous criminal named Claw. Then Gadget must find Felix and stop him, before Sanford is killed for sins of a past that no longer exists...
1. Chapter 1

**IG Fic Series 2013 Book Six – Urban Legends**

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**Author Note:**** This is book number Six in my TEN BOOK 2013 IG series of novels, and follows on from the ending of Book Five 'Bodysnatchers'.**

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**Summary:**

**With the Body Snatcher locked up, life goes on as usual in Riverton – but only on the surface. **

**While the town sees him as the great Inspector Gadget, the truth is **_**very **_**different to the myth that surrounds him. Gadget is suffering in silence, haunted by the memory of being held prisoner by the maniac cemetery keeper – but still refuses therapy offered by police psychologist Allison Montgomery, feeling that to accept help would be a step backwards when he has always dealt with adversity and fought his personal demons without professional help. **

**When Brenda tells him Felix Todd is also suffering the after effects of being a victim of the Bodysnatcher, Gadget turns to the once brilliant scientist who designed his cyborg face so long ago – and Felix, who is struggling to come to terms with rebuilding his life, welcomes Gadget's offer of help and support, but when Brenda learns how much time Gadget is spending with Dr Todd, she misunderstands - and thinking of all Gadget had revealed about the other timeline, suspects his true motive is to get closer to Bess Nightingale who had, in the other version of events, been his lover...**

**As tensions build between Gadget and Brenda, Gadget finds himself increasingly attracted to psychologist Allison Montgomery, and when Allison reveals she can understand his need to have control over past trauma by indulging in role play in the bedroom, he begins to feel tempted to slide into an affair.**

**Gadget tries to escape the stress of his private life by using the chip containing memories of the other timeline – but soon realizes those memories only serve to remind him of how dark the other past had been. But despite this, he is still unable to destroy the chip and let go of the other timeline, feeling that those memories are still his, even though now in the altered timeline, the terrible events of the past never happened. **

**While Gadget is distracted by his unexpectedly tangled love life, his daughter Megan is having problems of her own – her fierce loyalty to all things cyborg is coming between her and Riley, and when she develops a sudden and very intense crush on Felix Todd, she is convinced she is in love even though this is the last thing Felix would ever want to hear. Megan tries to talk to her father about this but Gadget is too distracted by his own problems, and by trying to keep crime off the streets - thanks to Taylor Braydon's poor choice of tenants for his social housing project.**

**Then Felix finds the chip containing Gadget's memories of the time line before the time machine was used to changed the future – and mistaking it for a blank chip, accidentally downloads fragments of Gadget's memories. The download has a disastrous effect, causing Felix to believe that Sanford Scolex is a dangerous criminal named Claw who must be stopped at **_**any**_** cost. **

_**Then Gadget learns his best friend is in danger, and he must find Felix Todd and stop him before Sanford is killed for sins of a past that no longer exists...**_

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**Rated: T**

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**Warnings: This story contains some scenes of violence, deals with emotive subjects and also has some scenes that some readers may consider erotic.**

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**Disclaimer: I own nothing, this is a work of fan fiction**

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Chapter 1

The sun was sinking low in an amber sky that leaked a blush that spread through it like a cloud of blood in water.

The Gadget Mobile remained silent as it sped on, rushing past the Riverton sign, past fields bathed in a red-orange glow of fading daylight and on towards home.

Gadget kept his gaze locked on the road ahead, but no matter how he tried to concentrate on the journey home as the Gadget Mobile burned up the miles, he _had_ to look, he had to catch sight of the shining monuments glowing gold in the sinking sunlight...

Then as he thought of the maniac cemetery keeper, his throat went tight and he loosened his tie, took in a sharp breath, broke out in a sweat and fixed his gaze on the road once more.

His heart was hammering and his hands were shaking as he recalled being trapped in the tomb, powerless to escape as she talked of cutting parts of him away like he was nothing more than scrap metal.

And then, as the car drove onwards, at last the cemetery was behind him and he could breathe easier as the car put distance between him and the place that still had the power to give him nightmares.

"What's up with you, G Man?" The car asked as they neared home, "You're shaking and sweating and it _always _happens when we drive past that place. _I don't think you're over what happened_."

Gadget gripped the wheel tighter and realized his palms were sweating too.

"It was over a year ago," he replied, "It was over when they locked her up and threw away the key."

"Are you sure?"

The car slowed to a halt and Gadget looked down at the screen feeling ready to snap at the computerized face, but it was looking up at him so kindly that his anger melted away.

"Of _course_ I'm sure! I'm Inspector Gadget, I'm Riverton's finest crime fighter, I can handle _anything!_"

"That's what people say about you. Folks around here say a _lot_ of stuff about you, but it doesn't mean its all true. You're a local hero – people who don't know you don't see beyond that."

And the face continued to look up at him.

"I know what you mean, Gadget Mobile – but the past is over. I guess I'll always remember what happened, but I can deal with it."

He got out of the car.

"Are you _sure _you can deal with it?" the car asked carefully.

Gadget forced a smile and patted the closed door.

"Go to sleep and recharge your batteries, it's getting late."

"Okay – I'll shut my mouth!"

The car switched to sleep mode, snoring softly.

Gadget turned away from the car and walked towards the house.

* * *

As he got closer to the front door he felt warmth and peace wash over him; home was the only place where he felt truly safe since the incident with the Bodysnatcher. He had kept on hoping time would ease the sharpness and clarity of those memories, but unlike the ones stored in the removable chip, he couldn't delete the recollection from the human side of his brain and those memories lingered in a dark corner of his mind, waiting to pop up to make more bad dreams...

He opened the front door and stepped inside.

As he closed the door again the sound of it shutting was like a final confirmation that the world outside, where monsters lurked, was well and truly blocked off for the rest of the day.

He took off his hat and trench coat and hung them up in the hall and suddenly it was easier to breathe. Then he took off his tie and popped a couple of buttons on his shirt and drew in a deep breath, glanced in the hallway mirror and ran his fingers through his dark hair, briefly checking to be sure he was not still breaking out in a sweat.

He was relieved to see no trace of panic remained outwardly, even if he could still spot a fading shade of fear reflecting in his sky blue eyes.

Gadget turned from the mirror, pushing aside thoughts of the past as he concentrated instead on his family.

He walked up the hallway and started to smile; dinner was cooking, that meant Brenda was already home. He stood in the kitchen doorway and watched as she stirred a bubbling pot and as she turned around her eyes lit up with love.

"Hi honey, how was your day?" she asked him warmly.

"Same as usual, Zero crime to report – although there's been some disturbances over at the new Braydon housing estate, for now Quimby's guys seem to have it under control, but I don't think it will be too long before they need me out there, too. I wish Taylor had checked out those tenants before he gave them all free homes!"

And Gadget sat down at the table and gave a sigh.

"I can't wait for Friday to come. I wish it was Friday now! I just want my two weeks off work, I've had enough, I need a rest."

As he spoke, the thought ran through his head that on his two weeks off, he would not have to drive past Steel Temple Cemetery. He had two whole weeks of not passing that place, not getting those terrible feelings of panic and suffocation every time he caught sight of the shining monuments in the distance.

He guessed it would make it even harder to drive past the place when he was back on duty – but there was an alternative – he could take the long way around to get into town, even if it meant leaving fifteen minutes earlier and risking getting caught in tailbacks, it would be better than having to feel terrible each time he drove past it...

Brenda set a coffee down on the table in front of him and then sat beside him.

"My day was quiet too. Which I suppose is a good thing, meaning that I had no emergencies to deal with, no one needing life changing cybernetic work."

And then she paused.

She was watching the steam rise from his coffee cup and for a moment her gaze was fixed on it, then she looked into his eyes once more.

"Gadget, can I ask you something?"

"You know you can ask me anything, what's this about?"

She paused again, considering how to phrase the question.

"_It's about when you were used for the Gadget Project."_

He frowned, wondering why she had said that so carefully; it was not a closed or sore subject and yet she had spoken as if afraid she may be stepping on to eggshells by raising it.

"What about it?" he asked.

Brenda was still looking into his eyes as she continued to speak carefully:

"I keep thinking that it must have crossed your mind that your consent was never sought in the matter, and then I think about how you got sick because of the toxins in the original fluid formula and I wonder if you blame me –"

Gadget took hold of her hands and held them tightly.

"No," he said firmly, "_Don't _bring that up again – you know I don't blame you! I have you to thank for saving my life, Brenda. I underwent cyborg conversion as a life saving procedure. You couldn't have my consent because I was in a coma at the time. And as for the fluid making me sick all those years later, well...I was the prototype. I had to expect more than just a few glitches when I'd undergone cybernetic conversion on such a huge scale. I don't blame you, I _love_ you!"

But pain still lingered in his wife's eyes as she spoke again.

"I can't help but wonder if what you went through with the body snatcher reminded you of how helpless you must have felt, when you found out she planned to take parts of you away. It _must _have made you think back to the beginning."

Gadget let go of her hands, studying her face as a sudden realization dawned on him and then the soft look of love rapidly vanished, turning his eyes to blue ice.

"No, you didn't think that, you've been talking to that shrink again!" he said accusingly.

And Brenda gave a sigh of despair.

"Gadget, you toss and turn, you wake up sweating and breathless, when I ask you what's wrong you push me away – some mornings you look terrified to step outside the front door! It's all since the Bodysnatcher abducted you! And I wasn't talking about you behind your back, I just happened to mention your bad dreams when Allison called –"

"She called here at the house?" Gadget fumed.

"No, she phoned to ask how you were doing, that's all!"

Gadget's eyes narrowed.

"And you told her everything she needed to hear to get me signed off sick for God knows how long – she could do that if she wanted to, then I'd have to go and see her –"

"What's _wrong_ with therapy?" Brenda demanded.

Gadget fell silent and she got up, paced across the room, leaned against the kitchen sink and folded her arms as she looked hard at him.

"I'm waiting for an explanation that makes sense, Gadget! You were traumatized –"

"_I was not!"_

"You were traumatized by your experience. You're getting bad dreams, you're suffering from stress and it's affecting your life! Honey I love you, I don't want to see you go through this when you don't have to!"

Gadget's eyes were still cold as he looked at Brenda.

"No I do _not_ blame you for making me sick with the cybernetic fluid. Nor do I blame you for replacing my shattered body with working android parts. I have no issues with _any_ of that! But I _do_ have a big problem with my wife talking about things I keep private to a shrink who works for Riverton PD!"

"I just want you to get some help," Brenda said quietly, "I don't understand why you wont talk to her."

Gadget stood up.

"Brenda," he said, "I was once so severely injured only cybernetics could save my life. I was the prototype cyborg, I woke up with seventy percent of my human body gone and replaced with machinery! And I got through that and came to terms with it, I did that on my own without the help of a shrink! So if I can get through that, I can get through anything. _Asking for professional help would be a real step backwards for me in so many ways!_"

Gadget was furious, and as she looked back at him Brenda shook her head.

"I'm sorry, I was just trying to help. I was trying to help you as your wife _and_ as your cybernetic surgeon."

"Maybe you should remind yourself there's a line between the two," Gadget said sharply, "What happens in this house is _nothing_ to do with anyone else!"

His eyes were blazing. Brenda was sure she had never seen him so angry, not in all the years she had known him.

"I'm sorry if I've upset you, that wasn't my intention."

"_Well you have!" _he said sharply.

"It's a good thing Megan's over at Riley's house," Brenda replied, "I'd hate for her to see you getting so worked up."

"But if she was here I know she'd understand," Gadget replied, "It's _my_ life, Brenda – _I don't need a shrink to tell me how to live it just because I had a bad experience that gave me a few nasty dreams!_"

His anger was still rising as he looked at his wife, then as he saw tears in her eyes he unclenched his fists and took in a deep breath.

"I know I've had problems," he said, softening his tone as he forced his anger to simmer down, "But you need to understand I handle this on my own. I've always faced difficulty by myself and got through it. I would seriously question my own emotional stability if I felt the need to see a shrink after all these years!"

Brenda blinked and a tear ran down her face.

"Gadget, I'm sorry, I didn't know what else to do for the best. Won't you just _consider_ the possibility of one session with her, just to talk about what happened?"

He shook his head.

"I could talk about that for hours – but what would it do to change it? Only a time machine can change the past and I smashed that up when me and Sanford changed the future. Talking doesn't undo anything. I was abducted by the Bodysnatcher and yes, actually I _did_ feel violated, I _did_ feel like I was being hacked about without my consent and it did rather echo my cyborg conversion – but only in a _very_ remote way! I was more concerned about keeping my cyborg body in one piece because its also my life support. _I was focusing on survival, Brenda_."

He stepped closer and placed his hands on her hips as he looked into her eyes.

"Let's not talk about this again."

And there was a click and a vague metallic sound as his arms extended and wound around her, binding her to him tightly as he gently kissed her. As he pulled back, the look in his eyes bore no trace of anger as he started to smile.

_"How about we go upstairs and blur that line between our relationship and your job, Dr Bradford? I know what would make me feel better...you taking me upstairs and checking me over...we might as well make the most of it while Megan's out..."_

Brenda gave him a hug, but then as he unwound his arms and they snapped back into place at his wrists, she shook her head.

"You can't solve this by us fooling around, Gadget. Sooner or later you'll fall asleep and get the dreams again – please, go and see Dr Montgomery, just see her once – do it for me."

Gadget looked at his wife kindly. No trace of anger remained as he spoke again.

"No, Brenda," he said gently, "I won't do that. I'll _never_ see her."

His wife gave a sigh and Gadget turned to the door, but then turned back again.

"I'm going upstairs now, I'm going to have a shower and lie down and I'll have some dinner later on when Megan gets home. And I don't want to talk about that shrink again, this is my problem so please respect that and leave it alone. I hate fighting with you."

Brenda nodded slowly, and then she added:

"_You're not alone."_

The brief flash of annoyance in Gadget's eyes was just a small hint of the anger that lie beneath the surface.

"I said, _leave_ it..."

"No, I mean he's suffering too. Felix Todd is still struggling to adapt. Maybe you should go and see him."

The mention of Felix had been unexpected; in the year since receiving his injuries and undergoing major cybernetic work to his brain function, Gadget had seen him on a number of occasions at parties and family gatherings, and the once brilliant scientist who had rebuilt his face with a copy of his own so many years ago seemed to be making the most of his new career as a highly sought after metallic tattooist...

"I thought he was doing okay?"

"No," Brenda replied, feeling slightly guilty to be talking about a patient – she knew she was breaching confidentiality, but if Gadget could help him, she considered her broken rule to be worthwhile...

"He's having a lot of emotional problems. He's also suffering with depression and he's been hospitalized twice over it recently. Bess has been worried sick about him. And he's like you, Gadget – he won't talk to anyone. But perhaps he will talk to you. Maybe you can help each other."

Gadget thought about it and then nodded.

"All right," he agreed, "I'll do that. I'm off work for two weeks starting on Friday, so I'll go and see him."

Then Gadget walked out of the room, wishing he could have ended this discussion with his arms around his wife, but with Brenda so keen for him to see the psychologist, he knew it would be a while until the dust settled from their disagreement.

He went upstairs, through the bedroom and into the bathroom where he stripped naked and then stood under the hot jet of water, wishing it could wash away his bad dreams of the past as easily as it washed away the sweat that had clung to him ever since he had driven past Steel Temple Cemetery. The water soothed away his anxiety and he wanted to stay there forever, alone with no thoughts of the past haunting him, while the locked door kept out the rest of the world and left him in peace for a while.

* * *

The tall buildings that had once housed the dreaming machines created by the late Jax Wilberforce looked, on the outside, much like they had when first constructed, except that now sidewalks and street names had been added and the buildings had smaller windows, making them look like homes instead of part of a leisure complex.

Taylor Braydon got out of his mint green sports car and turned back to the parked squad car that had pulled up behind him and gave a big goofy grin to the officer in the driving seat.

"I'll be fine!" he exclaimed, "This wonderful building and these wonderful people – it's all my project! I don't fear my own tenants!"

Then something hit the shoulder of his jacket with a splat and he brushed off a broken egg, the contents stuck to his fingers, sliding like translucent slime.

"Urgh!" he exclaimed, giving his hand a shake.

The raw egg flew from his fingertips, sailed through the air through the open window of the police car, hitting the officer in the face.

"Oh!" Taylor exclaimed.

He stepped forward, pulling a handkerchief from his pocket.

"I'm okay -"the cop insisted.

"No, no, let me clean you up!" Taylor said, spitting on to the silk and then wiping the cop's face, "Spit's good, it always works for everything –"

"_Get off me Mr Braydon!"_ The cop protested.

Then Taylor heard a child laugh and turned around to see a small boy with an egg in his hand. The boy threw it and the egg hit the side of his mint green sports car with a _crack_.

"Hey!" Taylor said angrily, "_Stop_ that!"

The boy laughed again.

Then the cop was out of his car, and the boy darted off down a tree lined street.

"Maybe I should escort you into the building," he offered again.

"No," Taylor said, his gaze still fixed on the raw egg that was running down otherwise gleaming mint green paintwork, "I'll do this by myself...not that I like the idea of threatening one of my tenants with eviction, but if it's got to be done, I'd rather be nice about it."

And then he stepped closer to his car.

The cop stared at the tall man with slightly untidy fair hair who still had egg running down his lapel, wondering why Taylor Braydon was so fascinated with the egg that had just exploded on to his car...

Taylor looked closer at the raw egg, then dipped his finger in the yolk and swirled it around in a circle as a big grin appeared on his face.

The cop continued to stare as Taylor smeared the egg all over the door of his expensive sports car.

"What are you doing?" he wondered.

Taylor drew his hand away from the runny egg, saw a slimy mess dripping from his fingers, and casually gave his hand a flick.

Egg flew through the air, missing the cop by a fraction.

"I was just wondering," Taylor began, and then he gave his hand another shake.

This time the remainder of the egg flew clean off his fingertips and landed _splat_ in the officers face.

Taylor had his back turned, still looking at the mess on his car, and the cop quickly wiped his face with his sleeve, keen to escape a second experience of Taylor cleaning him up with spit.

"_I wonder..."_ Taylor said again, and then he turned back to the cop.

"I wonder if this is a _free range_ egg?"

The cop shook his head.

"Sorry, a what?"

"You know, a free range egg, produced by a hen that's been allowed to roam freely. I noticed the yolk is a nice pale yellowy sunny color, see how great it looks against my mint green car? I don't even want to clean it off now, I like it, I like the pattern I made!"

He smiled a goofy grin again.

"_I made a big swirly whirly!"_ he announced proudly.

The cop blinked, looked at him and wondered how this simple minded guy had ever become a billionaire cybernetics tycoon...

"I won't be long," Taylor added, "I'll just go and see Ms Rush and then I'll be back out."

The cop was still speechless. He just nodded, and then Taylor walked into the building alone with a warning notice in his hand.

* * *

Taylor entered the building and turned right, heading for the second door in a long, brightly lit corridor.

Somewhere above this floor a couple were quarreling and plates were getting broken. Further down the hall two guys were talking loudly and sounded drunk.

Taylor reached the door and politely knocked.

The door was opened a fraction, the safety chain was on and as a blonde woman with dark eyes looked back at him suspiciously, he smiled.

"Hi, I own this building and I need to speak to you. "

She gave a sigh, slammed the door, ripped back the chain and then opened the door wide.

"Come in," she said reluctantly.

Taylor's eyes widened. He blushed at once and looked down at his shoes.

He knew he was still blushing as she told him to come in for a second time, and he walked in keeping his head down, thinking this had to be worse than the first time he met Robo Brenda, back in the days when she had just finished a career in the blue movie industry... _Ms Rush was wearing almost nothing at all beneath a dark, lacy wrap that was low cut and did nothing to hide the size of her large bosom..._

"So what's this about?" she wondered.

Taylor took a deep breath.

He glanced down at the paper in his hand, trying _not_ to think about the reason he was blushing.

"The cops have picked you up twice for prostitution...they claim you were on a corner in town trying get into peoples cars and...well... you know what I'm talking about. And there's been a report that you've been bringing guys back here and charging them for sexual favors. You can't behave like this on my property. The cops have said if you violates the law, you get a warning notice. If you get a second, I have to evict you."

He suddenly felt more confident and so continued to speak, still blushing as he looked up and finally met the young woman's gaze.

"I don't want to evict you but if you use this apartment as a brothel, I will have no choice under a section of the tenancy agreement that says you mustn't breach the agreement under section three, _boobies, big ones_ –"

He stopped, drew in a sharp breath as his face flushed even harder and shook his head.

"No, I mean you mustn't –"

She snatched the paper from his hand.

"Okay," she said, "I get it. But I'm _not_ a prostitute."

Taylor blinked.

"No?"

His face was still burning and as he looked at her, the size of her chest was filing his mind all over again. The more he tried to avoid thinking about it, the more difficult it became to avoid...

"I just relax people," she told him with a smile, "And sometimes when people relax, they like to take their clothes off. And when they leave here happy, they give me money to say thank you."

Taylor smiled.

"Oh, I get it! So you're not a hooker!"

She briefly turned her face away as she laughed.

"No, and the people I was talking to on the street were clients of mine. I'm in the business of _relaxation_. The cops have got it wrong."

Taylor took the warning notice back from her and laughed.

"Oh well, that's okay, then! I'd better go, and don't worry about the warning notice, I'll have it cancelled. Have a nice day, Ms..."

He looked down at the notice, "Sylvia Rush. I won't bother you again."

She laughed as she opened the door for him.

"Bye bye, Mr Braydon," she said sweetly, and as he walked away, she shook her head and laughed again.

"It's true what they say about him!" she exclaimed aloud, "He really _IS_ dumb!"

* * *

Taylor left the building and then as he handed the notice back to the cop he smiled brightly.

"It's a false alarm, a big misunderstanding," he said to the officer, "She's just a nice girl who relaxes people. What a _nice_ way to earn a living!"

And then he went over to his mint green sports car, pausing to admire the way the egg was drying in the sunlight.

The cop shook his head.

"Unbelievable," he murmured, "He really _IS_ as stupid as people say!"

Taylor was laughing as he pointed at the drying egg.

_"Swirly whirly!"_ he said again proudly, and then he got into his car and drove away, as the car gleamed in the evening light and swirled egg dried flaky and crusted on the paintwork.

* * *

Penny stood in the bedroom and watched with a smile on her face as Riley and Megan embraced far below in the drive way, he kissed her, then kissed her again and it seemed as if the two of them never wanted to let go.

Then she felt strong arms slide around her waist and Sanford pressed his face against her shoulder, kissing her, and then he stayed behind her as he watched with her as his son and Gadget's daughter got into Riley's car and drove off.

"I'm glad they're in love," Penny said, "It's a wonderful feeling when it's the real thing."

And she turned around and looked into the eyes of Sanford Scolex.

_"I'll love you forever."_

Her words went straight to his heart and he felt emotion wash over him in a way that made it impossible to fight back the tears that formed in his eyes.

"I think about it every day," he said softly, "I think how my life would have been if the time machine had never existed...I would have been a terrible person, a man who hurt your Uncle...a man _you_ hated."

"You don't have to think about that," Penny reminded him as she slid her arms around his shoulders and looked into his eyes, "The only person who remembers the other timeline is my Uncle Gadget – _and _he destroyed the chip. All the digital memories of the other past are gone."

Sanford felt a flicker of concern as he thought about how his best friend had held on to the memories of the other time line for so long, not wanting to wipe out a past that had once been his life, even though it had been in a world far darker than this one...

"You are _sure_ he destroyed it?"

Penny smiled.

"Of course he did! Sanford, stop thinking about it! The other timeline was wiped out. The chip is gone. He told me, he said he removed it and now it's gone and we don't ever have to worry about it again."

"And we don't have to worry about him being tormented by it," he reminded her, "And it's a big relief to know there's no kind of record of what life _could_ have been like – I don't know how I'd feel if I watched what was on that chip, I couldn't bear to ever see myself as an evil man who wanted to destroy Gadget, he's my dearest friend!"

Sanford was still tearful and he blinked as he tried to laugh it off.

"Look at me, getting upset over a past that never happened! I really am silly sometimes –"

"No, you're just a good man who knows he could have been very different in another life," she replied, "And you made the right choice. You took Gadget's advice and now look at us, we have a happy life together."

She placed her hand on his cheek and then slid it gently through his hair.

"Come on, quit crying, fat boy. I'm not making love to a sobbing wreck."

Sanford laughed softly as he wiped his eyes.

"Is that better? I'm in control now."

She grabbed his hand and led him over to the bed, laughing as she gave him a shove and he fell back on to the mattress.

Penny was on top of him in a split second, grabbing his hands and then lacing her fingers with his own as she held on to to him and leaned in for a kiss.

"I do love you," he said tenderly as her long hair trailed over his shoulders.

Then Penny hesitated, hovering a fraction from his lips.

"You're still weepy! I mean it fat boy, man up or no fun tonight!"

He laughed.

"You're _so_ cruel!"

"_And you love it..."_ she murmured, then she leaned in and kissed him, and Sanford lay back, returning her kisses as Penny took over and held him down, whispering that she loved him with all her heart.

* * *

Megan had phoned home to say she was going to watch a movie with Riley.

And then Brenda had called to Gadget that dinner was ready and got no reply, so she had gone quietly upstairs, pushed open the bedroom door and found her husband lying on top of the covers with his shirt off, his shoes off, and he was sleeping deeply.

Brenda checked her watch and decided it was far kinder to wake him, see that he ate dinner, then let him go back to bed, or Gadget would be up at midnight raiding the fridge and with the kind of noise he made by laying in bed and extending his arm down the stairs and into the kitchen, no one would get any sleep... so she went over to him and sat down on the edge of the bed and softly said his name.

Beneath his eyelids, Gadget's eyes shifted left and right, then his body jerked, then he took in a breath and murmured something she didn't catch.

His hand grasped at the covers, screwing them up and crushing the linen in his fist.

Brenda frowned as she wondered if he was having another bad dream.

"Gadget?" she said softly, but he gave no response.

Brenda placed her hand on his shoulder and gently shook him.

"Wake up honey –"

Her words were choked off as his hand extended from the wrist and clamped about her throat.

With a flick of his wrist a silver automatic pistol slid into his other hand, he held her by the throat as the pistol was jammed against her temple as she looked in terror at her husband, who no longer seemed to recognize her.

"_It's my body, you bitch!"_ he spat darkly, _"You won't take me apart, you won't –"_

And then the vacant stare was gone as the nightmare faded and the cemetery keeper's features melted away.

_Gadget's jaw dropped as he looked in horror at his choking wife._

He retracted the gun and let go of her throat.

As Brenda gasped for air and looked at him with frightened eyes, shock took away all ability to speak for a few moments.

"Gadget..." Brenda gasped, "It's me...didn't you _know_ it was me?"

And he saw deep fear in her eyes as she gave a sob.

He sat up on the bed, anxiously checking his gadgets were back under control, then he reached for her, but she shrank away.

_"No..."_ she said in a frightened voice, _"Oh God, you almost killed me!"_

"I'm sorry, I was having a nightmare!"

She heard the shocked tone of his voice, saw the look in his eyes and knew he was the man she loved once more.

Brenda gave another sob and as Gadget reached for her again, she rested her head on his shoulder as she wept.

Gadget held her close, stroking her hair as he blinked away tears.

"I am so very sorry, I thought it was her, I thought I was back there –"

"_Please get some help."_

Brenda looked into his eyes, and Gadget felt as if to agree to her terms would be like raising a white flag on his resolve to cope with life in his own way, that resolve had been his personal reserve of strength and self belief for many years, and to turn to another for help now felt like giving up on life...

Gadget kept her in his arms as he spoke again.

"I _will_ get help - _if_ I can't figure this out for myself. I think I can do it, I think it would help a lot if I went to see Felix Todd."

Brenda was still tearful as she nodded.

"Do that," she said quietly, "See him, talk to him – and if that doesn't help –"

"I'll see the shrink," Gadget said reluctantly, "We can't go on like this, Brenda, you're right."

Then he cradled her in his arms as he told her he was sorry over and over again.

He still didn't want to admit he was unable to handle this problem alone, but after what had happened, he felt he had no choice – he was becoming afraid of his own gadgets - _what had once been simply a part of all that made him a cyborg was now becoming a threat to those he loved..._


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Friday morning arrived with sunshine in blue skies and after days of worrying and being afraid to fall asleep, Gadget finally felt a sense of his worries lifting – this was his last day at work, then he had two weeks to be at home, to rest and relax and forget everything – _he also had two weeks off from driving past the cemetery that triggered his bad dreams..._

As he left the house and walked over to the Gadget Mobile, he wondered how he had managed to get through the past few days – after attacking Brenda because of the nightmare, he had decided the safest place to sleep would be on the couch downstairs until the problem was resolved.

The car greeted him with a cheerful _Good Morning_, and Gadget replied quietly as he started up the engine, his mind still fixed on the task of passing the cemetery.

"What have you got planned for your time off, G Man?" the car asked as they reached the bottom of the street and turned on to the highway.

"I'm going to take it easy," he replied, "And I thought I'd go over and see Felix Todd, see how he's getting on. Brenda said he's been having a hard time since the attack."

"So it's not just you, then," the car remarked, and Gadget glanced down at the screen.

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?"

"I'm just saying, you're not alone, Gadget. Dr Todd went through a lot because of the Bodysnatcher too."

Gadget's grip on the wheel got tighter and he fixed his gaze on the road ahead.

"_I wish people would stop saying that to me!"_

"Saying what?"

"That I'm not alone!" Gadget was still gripping the wheel angrily, _"I've been alone with my situation since the day I woke up with half my body taken away from me!"_

He was glaring down at the screen once more.

The face looked up at him and blinked.

"Why did you say that like it was _stolen?_ You've never talked like this before – _Gadget, watch out!_"

He looked up in time to see an approaching junction and cars speeding across it, slamming on the brakes sent the car to a screeching halt and then he was shaking as he looked around and felt thankful there were no vehicles behind him. He had stopped just short of the junction, and the lights were still red...

"I'll drive," the Gadget Mobile said, "I can see you've got things on your mind."

Gadget sat in silence as the car waited for the lights to change, then crossed over and continued to drive towards town.

He watched the fields flash by and then began to think about how close he was getting to passing the cemetery.

"_I can drive now."_

The face on the screen looked up in surprise.

"But you almost crashed us back there!"

"_And now I'm in control."_

"Okay, but I'm watching you closely!"

The car shifted back to manual mode and Gadget took over, drawing in a deep breath and then taking a firm grip on the wheel.

As he sped up, the car spoke again.

"Slow down, G Man...What's the rush?"

"There's no rush, I just want to prove something..."

"Prove what?"

"That I can do this," he replied, and turned off the highway, taking the car up a tree-lined road that led towards the open gates of Steel Temple Cemetery.

"Gadget, don't do this to yourself!" the car said sharply, "Why, _why_ do you need to prove you can go back there?"

The gates were looming closer.

"Because I have to do this," Gadget replied, "I know there's nothing to be scared of."

He stopped the car beside the open gates.

As he switched off the engine, the face on the screen looked up at him once more.

"I'm not trying to tell you how to run your life, but I _don't_ think it would be a good idea to disconnect me again, I need to know you're okay, Gadget."

He got out of the car and looked at the face on the screen.

"I'm not shutting you down," he replied, "I want you to track me, I'm going to walk in there and look around and walk out again, I just need to prove I can do this."

Then Gadget walked away, heading for the cemetery gates.

* * *

As he entered Steel Temple, all the previous feelings of panic left him as he looked around at the shining monuments reflecting sun.

Birds sang in the trees and far off in the distance down the main path he saw the former home of the Bodysnatcher, now boarded up until a new cemetery keeper was found.

"There's nothing here to be afraid of," he murmured, looking around at the graves that seemed to stretch on for miles.

Gadget walked on a little further up the pathway, still focussing on the fact that the house was boarded up and no danger lurked here now.

_But he was far from the gates._

_This was a vast place; it would take time to get out of here - if he needed to get out quickly..._

That thought was all it took to send him into a spiral of panic, Gadget was shaking and sweating as his heart began to race. Suddenly it seemed as if his lungs were being crushed and the more he tried to take in air, the harder it became to breathe.

His heart was hammering violently as he looked back to the gates but felt unable to move.

Then the Gadget Mobile's engine fired up and the car came racing up the main path, screeching to a halt beside him.

"Get in, Gadget!" the car said urgently.

He struggled to take a breath and leaned against the car door.

_"I can't move..."_

Sweat was running down his face as he tried to block out thoughts of the dark tomb and the air running out, last time he had been in this place, he had feared he would never see home or his family again...

The car sprung the door open automatically, and Gadget weakly climbed in. Then the Gadget Mobile activated the door again, slamming it shut.

Then the car reversed out of the cemetery so fast its tires screeched.

* * *

They came to a sharp stop on the road outside the gates and the car turned around, ready to head off back down the road that led to the main highway.

"Good thing you let me keep track of you!" the Gadget Mobile exclaimed, "Your adrenaline levels have gone crazy, your heart is racing and you're shaking like a jellyfish! I'm _not _driving you back there _ever_ again!"

Gadget said nothing as he recovered his breath and the car drove up the road, speeding away from the cemetery.

As they turned back on to the highway, the car spoke up again.

"I'm driving. You will do _nothing_ but sit there and pull yourself together, have you go that, Gadget?"

He was still breathless as he nodded.

"Good!" the car replied, "Now, I don't want any quarrels about this – I'm taking you home!"

Finally Gadget found enough breath to speak.

"I have to go to work –"

"You just tried to confront your worst fears and had an anxiety attack! You need to go home. You're off work for two weeks starting tomorrow anyway, so what's the harm? I'm calling you in sick –"

_"No you're not!"_

"Too late," the car replied, "I just sent a message to Quimby. I said you had a gadget malfunction and Brenda needs to fix it."

They were far from the cemetery now and the closer he got to home, the better Gadget began to feel.

"Thanks for nothing! Now I have to tell Brenda what to say in case Quimby calls her about it!"

"You need to go home and rest," the car said gently, "I know you well enough, Gadget. Think how long we've been partners, I know you better than anyone. So _please_ get some rest, because you need it!"

They were off the highway now and the car sped up as it approached home.

Gadget felt weary all of a sudden and he knew the car's advice made perfect sense.

"I will get some rest," he promised, "And thanks for getting me out of there so quickly."

The car rolled to a stop outside the house.

_"That's what I'm here for, Gadget – I'm your back up."_

On hearing those words, Gadget felt far more grateful to the car than he cared to show.

"I know you are," he said warmly, and then he turned away and walked back towards the house, feeling exhausted and wanting to do nothing but sleep for the rest of the day.

* * *

As Gadget opened the front door, Megan's voice drifted along the hallway.

He closed the door, took off his hat and coat and hung them up and turned to see his daughter standing at the other end of the hall while she wandered back and forth and spoke into her cell phone.

"I don't know yet," she was saying, "I was thrilled when I found out – but I don't know what Dad will think –"

She paused, spotting him standing there, and then spoke again.

"I've got to go. I'll be ready in twenty minutes. See you soon, Riley."

Then she ended the call and as her father walked up to her, he was sure he caught a flash of guilt in her eyes.

"Is something going on?" he wondered.

And his tall, pretty daughter with his dark hair and her mother's features, who had just turned eighteen, looked back at him and smiled.

"Nothing bad..."

"Megan, tell me what's going on, please."

She gave a sigh.

"Okay, it's like this – You got a phone call this morning from –"

"I don't _want_ to speak to that shrink!" he said wearily.

Megan blinked.

"I know Mom said you've been stressed since the Bodysnatcher case and to be honest I've noticed it too, but this isn't about a shrink. Actually, I know _nothing _about a shrink! Maybe _you_ should tell _me_ what's going on, Dad?"

Gadget looked at his daughter and felt a stab of guilt. Megan had worried about him ever since he had been sick and even now he was fully recovered, that worry had not let up. He didn't want to lie to her but he didn't want her to think the worst, either – he knew Brenda would not have told her about how badly his nightmares had affected him, but it seemed only right he shed _some_ light on the matter...

"I've had a few bad dreams about what happened. Your Mom wants me to see Allison Montgomery for some therapy. But I've always handled problems by myself, I guess I feel I'm too old to try a new approach now."

Megan stepped closer and looked into his eyes.

"I think if you can't sort this out yourself, maybe you should see her. I don't want you to have bad dreams at night, Dad."

Her words touched his heart, but at the same time he wondered how she would have reacted if she had known his bad dreams had caused him to attack her mother with his gadgets...

"I've already promised I'll see her if I can't resolve this," he replied, "I know it's a problem and I have to find a way to deal with it."

Then he swiftly changed the subject.

"So what was all that about on the phone just now?"

Megan's eyes shone with excitement.

"I personally think this is exciting news. You probably won't because you're not into the political side of cyborg rights, although you should be, as you're a cyborg –"

"Oh, is this a cyborg rights thing? Sorry, honey – I'm _not_ interested. I've told you so many times, I'm just Gadget, I'm a cop and I'm married to Brenda and I'm a father to you. That's what makes me who I am; I don't _need_ to dwell on the cyborg part."

But Megan was still excited as she continued to explain:

"You know Coral Watts, the lady who hosts the cybernetic topic show on the Cyborg Matters Channel?"

Gadget folded his arms and gave a weary sigh.

"I've heard of her but I've never watched the show –"

"Well she's a cyborg and she talks about topics that are important to cyborg people –"

"Just a minute...I know where I've heard that name before, Taylor Braydon watches that show, he never misses it!"

"Well she called here to speak to you!"

Megan has spoken so excitedly, but as Gadget unfolded his arms he looked doubtfully at his daughter.

"I can't imagine she would have anything of interest to say to me. She'd better not want me to go on her show to talk about being a cyborg cop! I don't mind that people around here look up to me for being Inspector Gadget, I'm proud to be known as Riverton's finest detective, all I ever wanted to be was a crime fighter – but I _don't_ want too much emphasis on the cyborg label! I'm aware this town thinks of me as some kind of a super hero and it's _so_ exaggerated, Megan!"

And then his daughter smiled as she looked at him with eyes shining with love.

"But you _are_ a hero," she said softly, "You always will be to me, because you're my Dad."

And Gadget smiled too.

"Just your Dad. That's good enough for me."

Then Megan's smile faded. She hesitated for a moment, and then explained the rest:

"She wants to do a show on the subject of the first ever cybernetic formula that was used on the very first cyborgs, and how it can lead to toxin specific leukemia. "

Gadget's eyes widened.

"Oh no Megan, I'm not going on her show to talk about what happened to me! I'll become known as the cyborg cop who got sick, that's not the kind of image I want and I'm sure Quimby wouldn't be happy about it, either! We kept my illness out of the press until I was over it! That's why people still see me as the great Inspector Gadget, the famous crime fighter! It's my reputation; I don't have room for weakness to be a part of it."

Confusion clouded Megan's eyes.

"But you're famous, Dad! You're the greatest detective in the history of Riverton, if you went on that show and talked about what happened to you, maybe other people who had the type one formula would be more aware of the risk! You could save lives."

Gadget shook his head.

"No honey, I know what you mean, but I really don't want to talk about what happened when I got sick. I got over it, I moved on from it and now I'm trying to move on from what happened with the Bodysnatcher case. I've got too much on my mind, I'm sorry, I can't do it."

Megan tried to hide her disappointment as she slowly nodded.

"Okay," she said, "I know you've got a lot to deal with right now. But maybe you could do it one day?"

"I'm not saying never," he replied, "I just don't want to take this on now."

Megan gave him a hug.

"That's okay Dad, I understand," she told him, and then as a car pulled up outside and a horn blared loudly, she let go of him.

"Riley's here! I've got to go!"

And she dashed upstairs and then ran back down moments later with her jacket and her purse in her hand.

"Bye, Dad!" she said quickly, and hurried out the door.

As the door closed, Gadget briefly shut his eyes, shaking his head as he pictured himself talking in public about the painful memories of falling ill because of toxins in his body caused by the first cybernetic fluid formula that had been introduced to his bloodstream so many years before.

_"There's no way I'm doing that!"_ he said under his breath, then he looked at the phone on the wall and thought about Brenda; he had to call her and explain before Quimby got there first and asked questions she wouldn't be able to answer about why he had called in sick...

He picked up the phone and called Brenda's office.

It rang for a brief time and then she answered it.

"Gadget!" she said in surprise, "I thought you was at work?"

"No," he replied quietly, "I had to come home again..."

There was a pause, and as she spoke again she sounded worried.

"Why? What's wrong?"

Gadget gave a sigh. He thought about the frightened look in her eyes when his nightmare had got out of control, and he knew he owed her nothing but total honesty.

_"I tried to lay my fears to rest by going back to Steel Temple."_

"You did what?" she exclaimed, "Gadget, have you lost your mind? Going back there is probably the _worst_ thing you could have done!"

"I know that now. I had an anxiety attack, but I'm okay now. The Gadget Mobile called me in sick - he said I'd had a glitch that you needed to fix for me, so if Quimby checks up _please_ don't tell him the real reason."

"You know you can rely on me," she replied softly, "I won't tell him the truth, Gadget. But don't you see how much you need some help with all this? I know you hate the idea of therapy but even one session might do some good."

"I'll go over and see Felix tomorrow," he replied, "Maybe talking to him might help, like you said before. And if it doesn't help, I _will_ see the shrink."

"Make sure you get some rest," Brenda reminded him.

"I'll do that. I love you, Brenda."

"I love you too."

The call ended and Gadget put the phone down.

Suddenly the house seemed too silent and he felt aware of the fact that he was alone, it had hit him sharply as Brenda ended the call. But his chest ached from over breathing and his body still trembled slightly from the rush of adrenaline caused by the anxiety attack and as he climbed the stairs, he didn't even care if sleep brought more bad dreams, all he wanted was the softness of his pillow and a chance to rest, alone in the house where he could be sure his nightmares and the consequences of them could harm no one...

* * *

As Riley sped up the highway and they passed the shining monuments of Steel Temple Cemetery, Megan watched the way the light caught on the steel tombstones far off in the distance, and then turned to her boyfriend.

"I always thought my Dad was so strong. I didn't think he'd still be having bad dreams about what happened...I wish there was something I could do."

"He'll get over it," Riley replied, "I mean, he's Inspector Gadget, he's tough, he can handle anything, everyone knows that."

They turned off the highway and into a street that would eventually wind into the middle of town, and Riley slowed his speed.

"I don't think he's as tough as people imagine," Megan replied, "I remember when he was sick – he coped so well through most of it, but towards the end, before the transplant, he was in so much pain."

Riley caught the tone of her voice and glanced at her.

"Don't think about that, he's better now. And he_ is_ tough, because he got through it. He'll get over his bad dreams, too. I guess these things take time."

Megan blinked back tears, trying not to dwell on memories of the time when her father had been so unwell.

A sudden thought hit her and she smiled as she shook her head.

"It's crazy, but when I think back to how sick he was, I get so upset – but when I remember that my Mom was the surgeon who rebuilt him and saved his life all those years ago, I think about how brave he was, and how amazing she was to save him like that, and it doesn't upset me, I just think, what a romantic story!"

Riley had been watching the road, he checked it was clear and then glanced at her again.

"That's because you don't remember your Dad having his accident, you don't remember his body being rebuilt. So it's not close and personal like when he got sick a couple of years back, that's the difference."

The car turned a corner and as they entered the town, Riley pulled over into a parking space near a small row of shops. He switched off the engine and then draped his arm over the passenger seat, then dropped it down across her shoulders as he smiled.

"Want to go for a walk in the park? I've been thinking about you and me spending some time by the lake, just watching the world go by."

She smiled too, but then she thought about the conversation with her father and she spoke up again.

"I almost forgot – _Coral Watts called my Dad!_"

Riley's expression changed to one of confusion.

"Who? "

"She has a cybernetics show on the Cyborg Matters Channel?"

Riley gave a weary sigh as he rolled his eyes.

"No more cybernetics talk, _please!_"

But Megan had missed his remark as she launched into an explanation:

"She wanted him to be on her show to talk about the risk associated with the first ever formula that was used for cybernetic fluid, about how the toxins can stay in the body years after the fluid had been replaced with the safer type two formula – that's why she wants to interview him, so he can highlight the risk posed to anyone who had the type one, because of the associated risk –"

"_Stop!"_

Megan stared at him.

"Excuse me? I'm telling you that I need to persuade my Dad to go on that show and talk about the risk posed to cyborgs who had the type one formula –"

"I don't want to know!" Riley snapped, "He doesn't want to do it? Good for him! _I'll bet he never would have become a cyborg in the first place if he had a choice in the matter!_"

Megan's jaw dropped for a moment, and then she felt anger begin to rise as she looked at Riley.

"How can you be so ignorant?" she exclaimed, "You know I'm the daughter of a high profile cyborg, you know how much his cyborg status means to me, how protective I am of it –"

"And he doesn't care!" Riley said sharply, "He just wants to be a regular guy! He's got no interest in cyborg issues, you're the one who bangs on about it day and night!"

"_Because I love my Dad!"_

Riley ran his fingers though his hair and took in a deep breath, hating to fight with Megan over anything, but her love of all things cybernetic had started to get between them a long while back, starting from the day he had been honest and explained he found the whole idea of cybernetics creepy...

"Look Megan, I'm not interested in cybernetics. I don't _want_ it in my life. And I don't mean any offense to you or your Dad when I say that – I think your father's a great guy – and when I'm around him, I don't even think about the fact that he's a cyborg, because he doesn't talk about it, he doesn't start popping his gadgets about all over the place, he looks just like a regular person! That's why I find it so weird that you –"

_"Weird?"_ Megan glared at him.

"Maybe that's the wrong word, I mean, I don't understand why you're so into cyborg stuff, you're not a cyborg, your Dad's not into cyborg issues, so _why_ are you?"

Hurt reflected in her eyes as she looked hard at him.

"Because my father is a cyborg and my mother is a cybernetic surgeon! Because without cybernetics I wouldn't even _have_ a father, he would have died when I was baby!"

Riley knew he had said too much and too harshly, it was not the first time they had clashed over cybernetics, but he was sure he had never seen such hurt in her eyes before.

"Why are you taking this so personally? Let's just talk about this calmly –"

"_Calmly?"_ she fumed, and his heart ached as he knew at once he had made a big mistake by speaking out so harshly, because now Megan was deeply offended.

"I was only saying you talk too much about cybernetics. You know the subject freaks me out, you _know_ I don't like to think about machine parts inside people – but you _never_ shut up about it!"

Megan blinked back tears as she opened the car door and got out.

Riley was calling her back but she slammed the door then turned to him angrily.

"Okay, I'll shut up, Riley – I understand now, I get how much you hate cybernetics –"

"I didn't mean it like that –"

"_BUT IT'S WHAT YOU SAID!"_

She blinked to clear her blurred vision and noticed a few stares from people passing by, as they wondered why she was yelling at the top of her voice as Riley sat in the car looking so apologetic.

"Please, just get back in the car, we can go for a drive, we can talk about this. I don't want to upset you, I love you, Megan!"

She shook her head.

"No," she dragged in a breath and blinked away more tears, then ran her fingers through her dark hair, and then fixed him with blazing eyes.

"I think you've said enough, you've made it clear how you feel. _Leave me alone!_"

Riley started up the car.

"Fine, I'll call you later,"he said quietly.

"_Don't bother!"_ she yelled, but her voice was drowned out by the roar of the powerful engine as he drove off sharply.

Megan wiped her eyes, took in a deep breath, caught sight of a few more people staring in her direction, then she turned and walked towards the end of the street, where the road turned and led from town into the street beyond. It would be a long walk home, but she was sure she needed to take time to walk and think and try to simmer down her anger before she spoke to Riley again, because she hadn't intended to cause such a big quarrel, but now it had happened and she knew it would take a while before she could even think about making the call to tell him she was sorry...

* * *

_Megan walked_. She walked quickly through the tree lined avenues that wound about at the back of the town, thinking about Riley and how angry he had made her feel and how much her heart ached with regret for the harsh words that had been spoken.

It seemed as if the rest of the world was happy; the sun was shining, the sky was blue as it could be on a summers day and as she walked she thought about everyone else she knew and guessed they were probably having a happy time, too:

Taylor Braydon was excited about his new housing project, Sanford Scolex was happy with Penny and their family, and while it was true her Dad had his problems, she was sure he would sort that out – he had enough love around him, their family had always been strong together...

It seemed no one in the whole of the world could understand the ache in her heart that felt heavy as lead as she wondered if today marked the end of her romance with Riley.

That thought brought more tears and she stopped walking and wiped her eyes.

Then she looked across the street and saw Bess Nightingale getting into a car.

She knew it was Bess because the cybernetic surgeon was heavily modified cosmetically; her body was a smooth blend of flesh and metal and she looked elegant and robotic at the same time as she got into her car and started up the engine.

Megan's gaze shifted to the house that she was about to leave:

There was a large engraved plaque on the wall that read, _Dr F Todd, Metallic Tattooist_.

Megan waited for the car to drive away, and then she ran her hand down the elegant tattoo on her arm that said _Dad_ and smiled as she recalled how Felix had put her at ease as he melted down her father's worn out hinge and transformed it into her first tattoo.

_That had been a year ago._

She had heard that his business was doing well, that he was gaining quite a reputation for his art – which was a good thing, considering the attack he suffered by the Bodysnatcher had left him unable to continue his career in cybernetic science...

Megan walked up the path to the front door and knocked.

She hadn't seen Felix for a long time, not since Christmas when him and Bess had come to a party at Sanford's house, but now seemed as good a time as any to stop by and say Hi; talking to Felix would certainly take her mind off her quarrel with Riley...

She waited on the doorstep for a couple of minutes, and then knocked again.

Finally a voice drifted up from somewhere down the hallway:

_"Okay, I'm coming!"_ Felix said impatiently, and then he opened the door.

Megan stared at him.

Felix had certainly changed a lot since she had last seen him; he had lost weight and looked tired. He was wearing a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up and it bore a few stains, mainly lead smudges that she guessed were from his drawings. He had a shadow about his face that suggested he hadn't shaved for a couple of days, and as he looked at her he ran his shaking fingers through his dark hair as he fixed her with an impatient look.

"Hi Megan... _What do you want?_"

Then he leaned against the door frame, muttering something under his breath as he rubbed at his wrist and clenched and unclenched his fist in an attempt to calm the tremor in his arm.

He spoke again.

"What do you want?"

Megan was still staring at him. It had just struck her that the once brilliant scientist who had replicated his own face and given it to her Dad so long ago now looked very much _unlike_ her father; Felix still bore a resemblance to him, but he had changed so much over the last few months that it had really taken off much of the similarities between them.

"You've changed," she said quietly.

Felix looked at the young woman on his doorstep who stood there in a short, sleeveless black dress and he shrugged.

"I could say the same about you. When you came to me for your first tattoo you were little more than a kid. You look much more grown up now. Sorry I missed your eighteenth birthday party, I know me and Bess were invited but I wasn't feeling too good."

And he nervously rubbed at his arm again as frustration burned in his eyes.

"If it's a tattoo you're after, I can't help you today. The shaking in my hand comes and goes and it's been bad for the last two days, so I have to wait until it eases off. It's driving me nuts!"

"I'm sorry," she said to him kindly, "It must be difficult to live with."

"So what do you want?" he asked again.

"I was just passing through the neighborhood and I thought I'd stop by and say Hi."

He hesitated.

"_It's not a good time."_

"I can always come over another day if you're busy. I didn't mean to disturb you if you're not feeling well."

He looked at Gadget's daughter and his expression softened as he recalled the day she had come to him with her father's worn out hinge and asked him to melt it down to create her tattoo.

"Okay, come in. But if you want coffee, you'd better make it yourself – with my shakes I'd probably give you third degree burns!"

He stepped back and she went inside, and then he closed the door behind her.

* * *

As they walked down the hallway, Felix continued to speak as he led her towards his studio, all the while rubbing impatiently at his shaking arm.

"I've been working on some new designs if you want to take a look."

He opened the door and they went inside.

Megan looked around the wide, bright room and paused to admire the intricate sketches of designs all over the walls. The far end of the room contained his working area, where cybernetic tattooing equipment was neatly laid out. But he went to the other side of the studio, where a desk was cluttered with sketches and half finished designs, pushed then aside to clear a space and then sat down.

Megan took a seat at the other side of the desk and smiled.

"Looks like this place is doing well."

"I'm getting a lot of customers," he replied, "But I have to cancel and rearrange appointments, I have to work around the problem with my arm."

He glanced down briefly at the tremor that refused to let up, and as he looked back at Megan, she saw deep sadness in his eyes.

"They said it's the wiring, it's the brain to body connection...the shaking will never stop, not without intervention. It's because the wiring's linked to damaged tissue. I have to have another operation three months from now, if that doesn't fix it, nothing ever will. It's really getting me down; I can't get on with my life. _Not that I have much of a life these days_..."

And he fell silent, lost in his own thoughts for a moment.

As Megan looked at him, her heart went out to him. She thought about her stupid quarrel with Riley and suddenly her own problems seemed insignificant compared to all Felix was going through.

"Is it a minor procedure?"

He blinked and as he spoke again, his voice was edged with worry.

"No, it's _not_ a minor procedure, they've got to open my head up and replace wiring and feed it into another part of my brain and hope that sorts the problem out! It's a major procedure and I'm _not_ exactly looking forward to it!"

"But Bess will be there for you."

"Bess has a cybernetics conference and she can't afford to miss it. So I'll be all alone. But your Mom's doing my procedure, so at least I trust the surgeon. I've got faith in Dr Bradford."

And then a flicker of fear shaded his eyes as he spoke up again.

"It wouldn't be so bad if they could knock me out for it, but I have to be _awake_..."

Megan leaned across the table and gave his hand a gentle squeeze.

As she looked at him she thought of her Dad and how much he had been through in the early days, and suddenly her heart began to warm towards Felix.

"My Dad had to go through a lot when he first became a cyborg," she reminded him, "I'm sure you'll be fine, you're just as brave as he is."

Felix looked at her in disbelief.

"I'm _nothing_ like your Dad, Megan! I know all about Inspector Gadget, he's brave and fearless and can handle anything...I'm scared and I don't want to go through any more, I'm a nervous wreck because of it, I've been in the hospital twice this year because of stress and worry!"

He got up from his seat and gave a weary sigh.

"Maybe you should go, I'm not in the mood for company. I'm sorry, I'm just having a bad day."

Megan got up too and as Felix headed for the door, she followed.

"I'll stop by another time, when you're feeling better," she assured him.

They were walking up the hallway towards the front door.

"My Dad's _not_ fearless," Megan said kindly, "He is brave, but he's human and he's not invincible, just like you. Maybe you should talk to him, I know he'd want to help if he thought he could."

Felix opened the front door.

"I might do that," he replied, "When I'm feeling better. I'm sorry, I know I can be a miserable bastard sometimes but today really isn't a great one for me."

She smiled as she looked into his eyes.

"It's okay, I understand," she promised, "Just take it easy, Felix. Try not to worry."

And then she stepped forward and gave him an unexpected hug.

Felix returned the gesture with a brief embrace, but Megan clung on for a few more seconds, hugging the brave man who had been through so much and still faced more pain...she thought how like her father he was, then how much he was suffering, and as she held him, her heart melted.

_The feelings that washed over her happened at lightening speed and made her heart ache and race at the same time._

She briefly kissed his cheek, then let go of him.

Felix blinked, leaned against the open doorway and rubbed at his shaking arm again.

"Thanks for the hug," he said, feeling awkward.

Her heart was still racing as it suddenly hit her that even though he smelled like he hadn't showered that morning, Felix Todd had a rather sexy scent clinging to his skin; no cologne, just heavy male odor that made her wonder what it would be like to lay beside him on a warm night, breathless as the breeze came in through an open window and –

_No_.

She froze those thoughts as her face flushed.

"I'll stop by and see you again," she told him, and she reached out and lightly patted his trembling arm, it was a brief gesture and then she drew back from him once more.

"Take care of yourself, Felix," she said softly.

"I will," he replied, "Thanks for stopping by...but I've got to go, I have work to do..."

"Of course..."

Felix closed the door.

Megan stood on the doorstep for a moment, trying to make sense of her feelings.

Then she turned and walked away, heading for the street once more, and by the time she had got there and walked the length of the tree lined avenue and turned into the next road that would lead her eventually towards home, her mind had turned everything over:

It was crazy, but it made sense to her:

_She knew what she had felt when she put her arms around Felix._

_Her heart was still pounding at the thought of him._

_She had always wanted to find a man who was so much like her father, and now she had... _

Megan knew he was with Bess, but she guessed Bess didn't love him _that _much if she was willing to go away for a conference while he had the surgery...

Her heart refused to stop pounding and her face was still flushed as she walked on and the cooling breeze did nothing to soothe it.

Seeing Felix today had woken up so many feelings that had hit her unexpectedly:

_It wasn't a brief attraction._

_It was far too emotional and powerful to be a crush._

_Megan had just reached the conclusion that she was in love with Felix Todd..._


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The front door closed loudly and the sound carried up the stairs, waking Gadget sharply.

He sat up, took in a breath and as then as he looked around the bedroom as the late afternoon sun turned the walls a shade of amber, he felt relieved that his long sleep had brought no bad dreams.

He got up and ran his fingers through his hair, checked his watch and saw it was almost six in the evening.

Gadget went into the bathroom and closed the door, deciding a shower would help him freshen up but would no doubt do nothing to help him get back to sleep again – although a sleepless night had to be better than a restless one that saw him waking and attacking his wife because of bad dreams...

Gadget was under the hot water when he heard his daughter calling him.

"Dad," she said, "Are you in there?"

Gadget turned off the water.

"I'll be out in a minute, honey."

Then he stepped out of the shower, dried himself and put on a bathrobe.

When he opened the door Megan was standing in the bedroom, her eyes looked red and tearful and as she began to speak, she stifled a sob.

"_I had another fight with Riley."_

Gadget gave her a hug.

"I know you two love each other," he said gently, "But you're both young, you've got so much to learn."

She let go of him and as she looked into his eyes again, she suddenly seemed stronger.

"_Maybe it's for the best if I don't see him again."_

That remark surprised him, Gadget had been sure Megan and Riley were going to last; they had seemed to be deeply in love and so right for each other...

"I don't think you should make such a big decision without thinking about it first," he advised her.

Megan shook her head.

"No, "she said quietly, "He's made it clear he wants nothing to do with cybernetics, He hates the subject. It's really come between us. And I'm starting to think perhaps he's not the one – there could be someone else out there for me, someone who's right for me."

"I thought Riley _was_ right for you! Megan, don't make a snap decision, you could regret it."

Megan managed a smile and suddenly didn't seem tearful any more.

"I know what I'm doing, Dad," she assured him.

"I hope you do," Gadget replied, thinking of his best friend Sanford and how he would feel when his son had his heart broken because Megan had decided to call off their relationship...

"Is your Mom home yet?" Gadget asked her.

She shook her head.

"She must be working late. And don't worry, Dad – I'll talk to Mom too, but I know what I'm doing. I just don't want to see Riley any more."

"Maybe you should at least sleep on that decision," Gadget suggested.

"Sure," she replied, and then she hesitated for a moment, and asked a question:

"Dad, you know when you had your electronic memory fitted?"

Gadget laughed.

"No, I don't recall it, I was deeply unconscious at the time. What about it?"

"I was just wondering, if a person has a wiring problem with replacement cybernetic function linking to brain tissue, how serious is the procedure to fix it?"

Gadget stared at her.

"The more you read about cybernetics, the more you sound like your mother!" he exclaimed, "I'm sure you'll decide to be a cybernetic surgeon some day!"

"Please?" Megan said, "I need to know, I was wondering how serious the procedure would be. I'd ask Mom but she's still at work."

Gadget shrugged.

"I don't know, honey. I'd say it would definitely be a major procedure, especially if the brain function had been replaced because of damage. _Like in the case of Felix Todd, for example_ –"

Her heart skipped a beat as Gadget said his name.

Then she felt a rising sense of dread as she considered his answer.

"Dr Todd?"

"He's got a lot of problems with his cybernetic brain function," Gadget replied, "Brenda told me about it a while ago. Some of the wiring isn't working the way it should be, they have to take out the small contact cables and move them about. That's a very risky procedure."

Her voice was hushed.

"Do you think he might die?"

"_Who are we talking about?"_

Gadget and Megan turned to see Brenda walk into the room. She kicked off her shoes and gave a sigh.

"It's been a long day. By the way, Gadget - I covered for you when Quimby called."

Megan looked at her father.

"Covered?"

"Never mind," he said quickly.

Then Brenda spoke up again, looking at her daughter with curiosity in her eyes.

"You said was someone going to die? Who are we talking about?"

"Dr Todd," Gadget replied, "Megan was asking about complications with cybernetic brain implants and I happened to mention Felix was having a lot of problems."

"Well, yes he _is_ having problems but I told you that in _confidence_, Gadget!"

He gave his wife a knowing look.

"And you shouldn't have told me anything, he's _your patient,_ honey."

"_Is Felix going to die?"_

They both turned to their daughter, who suddenly seemed upset.

"No!" Brenda said firmly, "Of course not, I don't make a habit of losing my patients, Megan! Felix Todd had a partial electronic brain implant to replace severely damaged tissue. That damage doesn't just cover memory function; it also covers the vision in his right eye and movement in his right arm. He's had a problem with shaking in his arm and its getting worse because the wiring runs into damaged tissue. That's what I'm hoping to repair. It's a serious procedure but there's every chance he'll make it, but I can't guarantee a cure or that he won't have further complications."

"What complications?"

Brenda shook her head.

"I can't say for sure, it's a risky procedure. He could get through it okay, or he could suffer further damage."

"_What damage?"_

Megan's voice was hushed.

Gadget frowned as he looked at his daughter and wondered why she was suddenly so concerned about Felix Todd. The guy had given her a beautiful tattoo and she had said Hi to him at family parties, but she didn't know him _that_ well, not well enough to get so upset, she looked to be on the brink of tears now, although Brenda had not noticed as she thought about her patient and continued to explain:

"He could lose the use of his arm, or even the vision in his eye, the worst case scenario is further damage to already fragile tissue caused by moving the cables around; nothing is certain. Have you been reading about cybernetic surgery again, is that was this is about?"

There was a lump in her throat as she tried to speak, and she swallowed hard as she held back her tears.

"Yes, I was reading about cybernetics, but I don't want to talk about that now – I broke up with Riley today."

Brenda looked at her in disbelief.

"_Again?"_

"Yes and I don't want to talk about it. I'm going to watch TV for a while. Call me when dinner's ready..."

And the she turned away and made for the door, still fighting back tears she was determined to hide.

* * *

As she hurried out of the room, Brenda turned to Gadget.

"What was all that about?"

"I guess she wants to take an interest in your work," Gadget replied, "You know how she feels about cybernetics. But I never thought her and Riley would break up over it."

Brenda cast aside his worries as she slipped her arms around him and looked into his eyes.

"They break up all the time – and always get back together. Stop worrying! Now tell me, did you follow my orders?"

He saw the sparkle in her eyes and started to smile.

"Yes I did, Dr Bradford. I got plenty of rest."

She leaned closer and as he held her, Gadget felt his sensors begin to heat up.

"I think I should check you over," Brenda whispered.

"You should also lock the door," he reminded her.

As Brenda let go of him and slid the bolt across the bedroom door, Gadget's pleasure sensors were firing up, sending power surging through his body, making every part of him feel alive, the human and cyborg sides were uniting in the familiar sensation of arousal and as he unbuttoned his shirt and lay back on the bed, he smiled as Brenda sat down beside him and slowly ran her hand down his chest.

"So where's the problem?" she said playfully.

Gadget closed his eyes and smiled.

"Much lower...the usual place..."

"I know how to fix that," Brenda whispered, and he lay there in complete relaxed bliss as she began to unbuckle his belt.

"Just one thing," she added, pausing to lean over him_, "Don't fall asleep on me afterwards."_

Gadget reached up and gently touched her face as he looked into her eyes.

"I won't. And I'm on the couch tonight, just in case I have a nightmare."

Brenda smiled.

"That's okay, then," she replied, and started to gently kiss down his body, beginning at the row of micro chips set in his chest, working lower slowly.

Gadget took in a deep breath and let it out giving a sigh, and then he reached down and gently tangled his fingers in her hair as she began to kiss the sensors that were heating up rapidly and heading for overload.

"_That's right, Dr Bradford,"_ he murmured, _"Do what you have to do. You know how to fix me..."_

* * *

**~ "_Each night I ask the stars up above, _**

_**Why must I be a teenager in love..." ~  
**_

_Megan was in her bedroom._

The TV was on but the volume was turned down and as she sat on her bed and watched rain run down the window, she fixed her gaze on the glow of the sunset and the way the summer rain made the view of the garden beyond the window distorted. The sky was a mix of gold and grey, the rain clouds looked like bruises in the sunset.

She thought of Felix Todd and her heart warmed and ached at the same time.

Megan turned over all her mother had said about his condition, and then she recalled the frightened look in his eyes when he had told her how afraid he was of facing the surgery. Then Megan remembered Bess wouldn't even be in town while he was going through such an ordeal, and guessed there was no real reason not to try and get closer to Felix, because it seemed that Bess didn't love him at all, or she would have cancelled the conference and stayed at his side when he needed her the most...

The rain was still falling, dampening an otherwise pretty evening.

_Megan let her mind wander._

She thought of Felix and imagined what it would be like to call at the house and find him alone, because Bess had gone away for the weekend...

_Suddenly the image came to life in her mind and she let the scene unfold:_

They had been talking in his studio, but then his arm had started shake and as he failed to control it, Megan had stepped closer and gently placed her hand on his cheek.

"It's okay," she said softly, "I know the truth. I know Bess doesn't love you."

His eyes reflected sadness as he looked at her.

"Can you blame her?" he replied, "No one would want me now."

"_I do,"_ Megan whispered, and then she leaned in and their lips touched.

She kissed him gently and then as he pulled back, she slid her hand down the sleeve of his stained shirt.

"I wasn't expecting a kiss, I didn't know you felt that way about me," he said in surprise.

"You need to get changed," she told him, "Want some help?"

"I can't do it on my own," he replied, "Not with my arm the way it is. Thanks, Megan..."

She put her arm around him and helped him up the stairs, then he had led her into a bedroom, for some reason she couldn't fathom she pictured it as white with sheer nets at the windows that sighed gently in the breeze as she unbuttoned his shirt and slid it off his shoulders.

Then she lay with him on a four poster bed as white and pure as the nets that shifted with the breeze as she kissed him and ran her fingers through his hair.

"I love you," she said softly.

Felix looked into her eyes and smiled warmly.

"I love you too, Megan..."

_As the rain fell harder, she blinked, focusing on the rain washed garden once more as she pulled back from her fantasy._

She briefly considered all she had heard about Felix Todd – that he was impatient, often snappy, even rude to people when the mood took him. She had also heard he was into kinky stuff linked to cybernetic body art...but she shrugged that off, deciding if her heart could be captured so perfectly by him, all she had heard was obviously _not_ true. He was a sweet, gentle guy, that was how she saw him, that was how she dreamed of him – and she wanted him more than ever...

Megan smiled as a sudden thought ran through her mind:

_If they got together, perhaps they might even get married some day... With the way she felt about him, it seemed nothing was impossible..._

She wondered for a brief moment if what she was feeling was just a really intense crush – but then she dismissed the idea; _she was eighteen, she wasn't a kid any more - and she knew her own mind and heart well enough..._

Then Megan breathed on the window, making a cloud of mist. She drew a heart in it with her fingertip, watched as the rain ran through the shape on the other side of the glass and then she lay back on her bed and watched TV, with the volume off as she hugged her pillow and lost herself in daydreams of Felix Todd.

* * *

Next morning the day started bright, drying off any dampness caused by the rainfall the night before.

But as Taylor Braydon drove his mint green car out of the garage, Emma Braydon stared at the flaky mess on the driver's door.

She pushed her fair hair off her shoulders, then adjusted her glasses and leaned in closer to inspect the strange crusty mess that was stuck to the door.

"Come on," Taylor said cheerfully, "Don't you want a ride in to work today? I need you over at Braydon Industries because I have to meet with Quimby to discuss the little problems his people are having with my housing program."

Emma straightened up and looked hard at Taylor.

"Turn the engine off, Taylor."

He shut off the engine and as the car fell silent, he looked at her with a puzzled expression.

"What's wrong?"

"Get out of the car, please..."

Taylor opened the door, got out of the car and shut the door again.

"What?" he asked her.

She pointed to the crusted mess on the side of the car.

"What _is_ that?"

He looked at the mess on the car door and chuckled.

"Someone threw an egg last time I was over at the Braydon Estate – so I made a swirly whirly! It looked good when it was still wet!"

Emma gave a sigh as she shook her head.

"You're always the same with gooey stuff, anything - eggs, cake mix – you _have_ to play with it! _Don't_ play with it, Taylor, it's messy!"

"It was _fun_, Emma!"

"You need to clean that off. You can't go around with that mess on the side of the car, it looks gross!"

Taylor checked his watch.

"I'll be late for my meeting with Quimby."

But Emma was still fixing him with a stern expression.

"Okay," he said, "I'll clean it off."

And he went back into the garage.

"And don't forget to wash your hands afterwards!" Emma called out, "Don't worry about the ride to work; I'll take my own car."

Taylor became back out of the garage with a bucket of water and an old rag.

"You _really _want me to clean it off?"

"Of course I do!"

Taylor smiled.

"All right, Emma - I'll clean it off, just for you."

And then he looked one last time at the sticky dried mess on the side of the car.

"It did look kind of pretty, though..."

"Taylor!" she said sharply, "Clean it off! And _don't_ play with sticky stuff again!"

"Okay," he said reluctantly, and then Emma headed off to her own car while Taylor began to clean the dried egg from the paintwork.

* * *

Half an hour later, with the dried egg gone from the door of the car, Taylor parked his gleaming mint green sports car outside the Riverton Police Department.

He walked into the building and anxiously checked his watch, hoping the Chief wouldn't get too mad about him being twenty minutes late for their meeting. He was still worrying as he made his way up the corridor, and when he reached the Chief's office he knocked quietly.

"Come in," Quimby said, and Taylor opened the door and went inside.

One look at Quimby told him all he needed to know – he didn't seem too happy about the fact that he had turned up so late...

"Good to see you at last, Mr Braydon," he said, "Take a seat, please."

Taylor stood there and blinked.

"What?"

"A seat?" Quimby repeated, "I said you can take one."

Taylor frowned as he studied the two chairs placed on the other side of Quimby's desk.

"Which one?"

The Chief glared at him.

"Does it matter?"

Taylor was still thinking about it.

"Well it might... which one is your favourite?"

The Chief's face began to grow red as he tried to hold back his anger.

_"Just take a seat, Taylor!"_

And Taylor looked at the two chairs and shrugged.

"Okay, I'll take the one on the left because it looks newer than the other one...but _why_ don't you want it?"

Quimby stared at him in disbelief.

"_What?"_

"Why do you want me to take one of your chairs?"

His rage was threatening to bubble over like a volcano about to spill lava.

"I don't mean _take_ the chair, I meant, _SIT DOWN!_"

"Oh, okay..."

Taylor sat down quickly, and then he smiled a goofy smile, hoping his cheerful expression would placate the angry chief of police.

Quimby took a moment to take a deep breath, then he picked up a pencil that was lying on his desk but put it down again, because he was too overwhelmed by the urge to snap it. Taylor Braydon had caused him to snap many pencils over the years, mainly because he could get away with snapping pencils, and it wasn't against the law, either – a far safer option than lunging across the desk and grabbing Taylor by his jacket and giving him a shake...

"Let's get down to business," Quimby said, "This housing project of yours...I have to ask you to be more careful about your choice of tenants from now on. Use an agency; screen these people so you don't bring in more trouble makers. I'm aware you have plans for a fifth building to go up on the site next year and I'm very nervous about it, Taylor. I know you want to be kind to everyone, but sometimes you just have to say no."

Taylor shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"But if someone had no where to live and I turned them down, its unfair to them..."

"Not if turning down criminals and troublemakers!"

"But everyone has to live somewhere!" Taylor pointed out.

"That's true," Quimby replied, "But that _doesn't _mean they have to come to Riverton! I have patrols over that estate every single day, working in shifts just to make sure there's no trouble. I'm aware that Mayor Wilson has agreed to partly fund some social welfare plans for these people but that won't stop the trouble makers causing trouble, will it?"

Taylor thought about it.

"Maybe I should have checked some of them out before I housed them."

"You should have checked them _all _out!" the Chief replied, "I don't want this town falling apart. It's been almost crime free for nearly twenty years thanks to Inspector Gadget. We want to keep it that way."

Taylor nodded.

"I'll do that when the next apartment block's ready. I'll have them all checked out, Chief Quimby."

"That's all I wanted to say, Taylor," Quimby replied, "Thanks for stopping by. But next time I need to see you, do you think you could try and turn up on time?"

Taylor got up and smiled as he recalled the reason for his late arrival.

"I'm sorry about that, Chief. I'd let it dry on the car and Emma didn't like it."

"Let what dry?" Quimby wondered.

Taylor recalled how Emma had been so mad about it and then he laughed.

"_She told me off for playing with it."_

And he looked at the Chief and smiled with a vacant expression in his eyes.

Quimby looked back at him, momentarily speechless, and then he said carefully, "Playing with it?"

Taylor nodded.

"I couldn't help myself; I just _had_ to do it! The mess on the car was all gooey and I made a _big_ swirly whirly and let it dry there!"

The Chief's eyes widened.

"You...um...shouldn't have played with _anything_ at the wrong time, Taylor. And I don't _ever_ want to hear about the... the _swirly whi_r_ly_ again."

"But I –"

"_No! Not ever!"_ The Chief said firmly, "You'd better go now, Taylor."

"Okay," Taylor replied, and he left the office.

The Chief thought about what Taylor had just said and shook his head.

"Playing with it?" he said in disgust, "_Playing with it in the car?_ I don't know how Emma puts up with that guy!"

* * *

Sanford Scolex woke up alone that morning and as he looked around and then Called to Penny and got no reply, he felt a flicker of alarm.

He got out of bed and threw on a dressing gown and went over to the bedroom door and opened it, then called her name again.

"She went out early," Riley said, as he walked up the stairs.

Sanford stared at his son. It was unusual for Riley to be up so late, but he was up and dressed and coming back up the stairs with a tray that contained a cooked breakfast, a large one, much larger than Penny made for either of them...

"I don't suppose that _huge_ full English breakfast is for me?" he said hopefully.

Riley had reached the top of the stairs.

"No," he replied, "It's mine. I need a lot of food today, I plan to spend the whole day in my room eating and doing nothing else."

Then sadness filled his eyes.

"I broke up with Megan again."

"So call her!" Sanford told him.

"I did," Riley replied, "But her phone's off. I'm going to leave it for a couple of days, I don't want to make matters worse."

Sanford caught the look in his eyes and guessed what it was about at once.

"You didn't fall out over cybernetics again?"

"She takes it personally when I say I don't want to hear about the subject."

"Then don't talk about it!" Sanford told him, "If she talks about it, don't listen. Just be polite and block it out and think about other things! You _know_ she's never going to turn her back on the subject - her mother's Dr Bradford and her father's Inspector Gadget!"

Then Penny's voice drifted from downstairs:

"Riley? Are you in? I need some help with the shopping...just you, _not_ your Dad..."

"Just me?" Riley complained.

Sanford smirked as he took the breakfast tray from him.

"Go and help Penny, I'll put this in your room, son..."

Riley gave a sigh and went back down the stairs.

Sanford hurried into his son's room and set the tray down on the bed as he gave a laugh that, in the other timeline, would have been more suited to Claw. Then he looked down at the huge breakfast.

"The reason why I used to be fat," he said in a low voice, "Is simply because I LOVE food!"

And then he grabbed a crispy piece of bacon and shoved it into his mouth, eating quickly before Riley came back up the stairs.

A few moments later, Sanford had finished a third piece of bacon and had just shoved a handful of fried diced mushrooms into his mouth when the bedroom door suddenly opened.

"That's _my_ breakfast!" Riley exclaimed.

Sanford pushed the last of the mushrooms into his mouth and quickly chewed.

"It was ..." he swallowed hard, "It was getting _cold_, son."

Then he saw Penny standing in the doorway.

She flipped her honey colored hair off her shoulder and glared at him.

"Leave his breakfast alone, fat boy!" she said, "And get your fat ass downstairs, I've got a surprise for you!"

Sanford got up and left the half eaten breakfast, casting an apologetic look towards his son.

"I was only trying to help! That portion was _far_ too big for you - I used to comfort eat when I was your age, that's why I used to be fat –"

"Downstairs _now!_" Penny said sharply.

Sanford followed her out of the room and as she went down the stairs, she was still annoyed at his behaviour.

"I was right the first time I ever called you fat boy!" she said, "I remember, it was years ago at a party and I heard Brenda say that you used to be fat – that was the night you were stuffing brownies into your mouth like there was no tomorrow!"

"I _still_ like brownies..."

"Any way, I got you something. Shut your eyes."

They were at the bottom of the stairs now.

Sanford closed his eyes, waiting nervously.

"I hope you're not going to draw a line down my face with a pen."

Penny giggled at the memory of how she had played a trick on him a while back.

"Would I be so mean to you?"

_"Possibly..."_

Penny's voice softened.

"I'm going to give you something. Just a minute...keep your eyes closed..."

Penny stepped closer, and then she placed something warm in his arms.

It was covered with soft fur and as he heard the unmistakeable mewing of a young cat, he opened his eyes.

"I know you miss your old cat. So I thought I'd get you another one."

Penny kissed his cheek.

Sanford looked down at the ball of black and white fur in his arms and his eyes misted with tears.

"Thank you, Penny," he said as emotion washed over him, "He's lovely!"

Then he smiled as he recalled the old days, when he had been running his robotics empire before the events of time machine caused him to change his destiny.

"I'll call him Mad Cat!"

Penny gave a sigh.

"If it makes you happy, Sanford. But you're cleaning out his cat litter. And you're feeding him. He's _your_ cat. I have our son to take care of and I have Brain to feed and walk every day too!"

And Brain scampered in from the garden, barked at the cat in Sanford's arms, and the cat turned its head and looked up at Sanford with bright green eyes.

"He's dog friendly," Penny added, "He's almost a year old, previous owner was moving and couldn't take any pets to the new apartment, so I said I'd have him for you."

His eyes shone with love as he looked at Penny.

"Thank you so much, you don't know how much this means to me."

Penny smiled back at him.

"Yes I do," she replied, taking the cat from his arms, "Now I'm going to show the new kitty to SJ."

And she turned and headed for the front room, where their young son was playing on the rug.

"What about me?" Sanford wondered.

Penny glanced back at him.

"You can go and cook your son another breakfast to replace the one you _stole_, fat boy!" she said, and then she took the cat into the front room.

Sanford gave a sigh, but the it occurred to him that unsupervised time in the kitchen meant he could eat far more than Penny usually allowed, and he smiled a sly smile.

* * *

As he was heading for the kitchen, there was a knock at the door.

"What now?" Sanford said, and went back down the hallway and opened the front door.

Taylor Braydon was standing on the doorstep, and he smiled his usual goofy grin.

"Hi Sanford!" he said brightly, "I was just passing by and I thought I'd invite you and Penny and the kids over next Saturday, me and Emma are having a barbecue."

"I'd love to come!" Sanford replied, "Do come in, Taylor – you'll never guess what's happened, Penny gave me a cat!"

Taylor's eyes lit up like an excited child.

"Oh I love kitties! Can I see your kitty cat?"

"He's called Mad Cat," Sanford replied, "Penny's just introducing him to SJ."

And he led him through to the front room, where the cat was sitting comfortably on the rug while Penny and Sanford's young son carefully stroked his soft fur.

"Aww!" Taylor exclaimed, "He's cute!"

And he leaned down, stroked the top of the cat's head, and then straightened up again.

"I had a cat when I was a little boy," he told them, "I love kitty cats!"

"Taylor came over to invite us to his barbecue next Saturday," Sanford added.

"Thanks Taylor, we'd love to come!" Penny said warmly.

"Be sure to invite your Uncle Gadget, I'll probably bump into him, but if I don't, tell him about it anyway – tell him to bring Brenda and Megan over."

Then he suddenly remembered something and he glanced down at their young son, and then looked back at Penny and Sanford.

"I just thought of something..._be careful with SJ and the cat litter._"

"Cat litter?" Penny wondered.

"Well its like this," Taylor explained, "When I was a kid, I used to like to play explorer. _I played explorer in the cat litter tray._"

Sanford suddenly regretted stealing half of Riley's breakfast as his stomach turned over.

"That's enough..." he said quickly.

But Taylor hadn't finished.

"I just want to say, _don't_ let SJ play explorer. Because if its come out of the litter tray, even if it _looks_ like a crayon, _and_ you can make a picture with it, just remember, it's _not_ a crayon, _and_ its stinky..."

Sanford put a hand to his mouth to fight off a wave of nausea, while Penny briefly did the same to stifle a giggle.

"How old were you when you did that, Taylor?" she asked him.

"I was about four," he replied, "Just make sure SJ doesn't make the same mistake!"

Sanford's eyes grew wider.

"Our son won't make a mistake like that!" he said firmly, "He's not..."

And then he smiled kindly at Taylor as he rephrased his words.

"He's a _smart_ kid," he told him.

Penny was still fighting the urge to giggle.

"But thanks for the advice," she added.

Taylor smiled.

"I like to be helpful," he replied, "And I'll see you next weekend at the barbecue."

Penny turned to walk with Taylor to the front door, but cast a glance back at Sanford. He still looked slightly sickened by what Taylor had said about his cat litter memory. She smiled.

"Don't forget to cook Riley's breakfast!" she reminded him with a giggle, and then she walked Taylor to the door.

* * *

Gadget's first day off work had started badly, with a phone call from Quimby to remind him that if trouble flared up at the Braydon Estate, he might have to cut short his leave. But then he had added that he had spoken with Taylor that morning and had been assured that the next tenants would be carefully vetted first – not that it made much difference, considering the existing ones were causing enough of a headache...

Gadget had thanked him for keeping him informed, and then he had put the phone down and turned over on his back and decided to catch a couple more hours sleep before he finally got up and faced another day.

A short while later he woke again, and then he knew was time to get up, even though he had only been in bed since seven am when Brenda had left for work, because he had slept in for far too long.

As he got dressed that morning, he looked into the mirror and saw no trace of tiredness about his eyes. He also considered the fact that he had not suffered any more nightmares since the day he had woken up and attacked Brenda - perhaps that had been the worst of the worst and now it was gone...

Gadget straightened his tie, then he studied his face and as he met his own eyes in the mirror, he shook his head.

_"Who am I kidding?"_ he said in low voice, _"It's still there, I can feel it..."_

Gadget left the bedroom, called out to Brenda and then to Megan, but got no reply.

He went downstairs, wandered through the hallway and paused to glance in the front room.

It was empty.

But the door that led to the patio and the garden beyond was wide open.

Gadget looked at the open doorway and it struck him as odd that Brenda would leave the house empty without locking up first.

"Brenda?" he called again, but got no reply.

He walked over to the open door and paused to watch the rhythmic turn of the sprinkler in the middle of the lawn. Water sprayed as the sprinkler turned and that as the only sound to be heard, save for the twitter of birds in nearby trees. A butterfly floated by on silken wings and settled on a flower in the colorful flowerbed near the end of the patio.

Gadget thought how peaceful the morning was and wished Brenda had not gone to work and Megan had not gone out, because this was a perfect start to the day and he would have loved to have spent it with his family. He guessed Megan had gone over to see Riley and sort out their quarrel. He thought about Brenda and the closeness they had shared the night before, and he smiled, deciding to call his wife and tell her how much he loved her.

Gadget closed the patio door and turned back to reach for the phone.

He collided with her; she was standing there with an icy look in her eyes as she started to smile.

"_You're just spare parts, Inspector,"_ said the Bodysnatcher.

Gadget lunged at her, hurling her downwards as he kept a steel grip on her arms, they both crashed through the glass coffee table and as she hit the carpet his hands were about her throat and he was fighting her, she seemed too strong to be human, but he kept on squeezing at her throat as they rolled in shards of glass.

_Gadget was still fighting._

He opened his eyes and struggled, but someone had rolled him on to his back and now they were on top of him, their knee jammed into his lower spine.

He was still trying to fight his assailant.

"_Gadget, stop it!"_ Brenda said sharply, _"You're having a dream, it's just a dream!"_

He was suddenly aware he was still in the bedroom, and he wondered at what point his morning had slipped into a nightmare...

Then he recalled falling asleep a second time.

He was barely back in reality, every sound and movement sent adrenaline coursing through his body as he waited to see the face of the Bodysnatcher again. He was breathing hard as Brenda spoke again, but not to him.

"Keep him still, honey..."

Megan was crying.

"_Don't hurt him...please don't hurt my Daddy!"_

"I've got no choice," Brenda replied, and Gadget felt a sharp sting at his temple, then a trickle of blood ran down his face, some stung his eye and turned the world temporarily crimson.

"Hold still, Gadget," Brenda said gently, "Don't be scared..."

He felt something slide into the side of his head, then there was pressure and a _click_, and a message flashed up behind his eyes:

_Gadget Mode Deactivated._

Brenda cleaned up the wound and then pushed the cybernetic skin together.

"Ten seconds and it will bond again," she reminded him.

Megan was stroking his hair.

"Are you okay now, Dad?" she asked tearfully.

Gadget was recovering his breath.

"I had a nightmare?"

"You started fighting in your sleep. Mom said she had to turn off your Gadget Mode."

"Probably the best idea," he replied weakly.

His temple was throbbing as the skin healed rapidly.

Finally Brenda got off him and it was easier to breathe as she turned him over and looked into his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Gadget. But I had to do it, you could have pulled a gun or a knife...I couldn't risk it. You need to keep the gadgets deactivated until these bad dreams are resolved."

Gadget looked at his daughter and then at his wife as his eyes filled with tears.

"I'm sorry," he said as his voice began to break up, "I'll find a way to put an end to this, I will."

"I'm calling Allison, "Brenda replied, "You need to see her, Gadget."

He gave a sigh.

"I don't _want_ to see a shrink. I want to go and see Felix Todd and talk to him."

"You can do both," Brenda reminded him, "But _not_ today. Just lie back and take it easy, I just performed an emergency deactivation and you could get a nasty headache because of it."

Then she leaned over him and kissed his cheek.

"Try and get some sleep, honey," she said softly.

Then she and Megan left the room.

As the door closed, Gadget lay there with his head throbbing as he wondered if the Bodysnatcher case had pushed him over the edge; perhaps this wasn't the result of trauma, maybe stress had nothing to do with it – _perhaps he was simply going insane..._

He gave a quiet sob as the pain throbbed at his temple and he wondered if the nightmares would ever stop, and if he would ever get back to living the kind of life he considered to be normal again...


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

It was almost eleven thirty.

While her mother stayed home and kept a close watch on her father, Megan set off on a long walk to clear her head as she tried to block out the upsetting incident that had happened at home.

She had known her father had bad dreams about the Bodysnatcher case, but had never witnessed one of his nightmares before. Now she had seen it, she hoped her Dad would listen and finally admit he needed help, because he couldn't go on like that, not forever...

As she walked, she took familiar turnings, cut through and alley and came out into a tree lined avenue.

Finally all her worries seemed to be lifting – not only that, but she knew where she was going..._Felix Todd lived in the next street..._

She thought about him and started to smile. She wondered if he was feeling better today, and decided that would be the perfect question to ask when she knocked on his door.

As she walked along the street, her phone rang.

She took it from her pocket and gave a sigh:

_Riley again..._

He had already left her a text message asking if they could meet up because he wanted to talk.

"Not now!" she said aloud, and cut off the call.

She put her phone back in her pocket and carried on walking.

Then the phone beeped.

She stopped walking and stood beneath the shade of a tree where sunlight filtered through the leaves and dappled the sidewalk, and she opened up her message:

'_Megan – I'm sorry. Please can we talk? I love you.'_

She gave a sigh and entered a reply:

'_Not today. I want some space.'_

Then she hit send, and put the phone back in her pocket and carried on walking.

As she turned into the next street, she started to smile again.

She was looking forward to seeing Felix, even though her stomach felt as if a thousand butterflies were trapped inside it and her heart was racing at the thought of the moment he would open the door, and she would look into his eyes again...

* * *

Megan reached his house and took in a deep breath, then she noticed Bess Nightingale's car was missing and her nervousness faded slightly; his girlfriend was at work...

She pushed open the gate and walked up the path, then took another deep breath before knocking on the front door.

Megan waited.

There was no reply, so she knocked again.

"_What do you want now?"_

She turned around sharply to see Felix standing on the porch. He was clearly having much less trouble with his arm today because he was carrying a box that was sealed with tape.

"Oh Hi...I didn't see you behind me..." she laughed nervously as those thousand butterflies trapped inside her fluttered their wings all at once and fought for freedom as her face flushed.

"Sorry if I made you jump," he remarked, and then he stepped past her, held the box in one hand and reached in his pocket and took out his house keys.

As he unlocked the door and gave it and nudge to open it, he glanced at her again.

"What are you doing here?" he asked without looking at her, and then he went inside with the box.

Megan was about to answer but he was already in the house and heading down the hall towards his studio.

She went inside and shut the door behind her and hurried to catch up with him.

"I wanted to know how you were feeling today."

Felix set the box down on the desk, and then he glanced down at his hand and looked up at her again and smiled.

That smile made her stomach flip and her heart race.

"It's a lot better. It goes like that, good days and bad days. Good thing it was manageable this morning – I had a booking at nine am."

"What sort of tattoo was it?" she wondered, noticing the smell of liquid metal hung in the air as she cast a glance around at the designs that covered the walls.

"Just a girl who wanted a little seahorse on her arm," he replied, turning to the box on the table and grabbing a pair of scissors, "It took thirty minutes, I don't have anything else planned today."

He opened up the scissors and the blade bit into the tape and split it as he sliced open the seal.

Then he looked at Megan and smiled again.

"So Im free all day. Did you have something in mind?"

And for a moment, she could not speak as her heart raced and her face flushed.

"Um...like what?" she asked, feeling slightly let down at just how small her voice had sounded at that moment.

Felix turned his attention back to the box, opening it and taking out some cybernetic tattooing equipment.

"Well, that's up to you," he replied, still inspecting the contents of the box, "I'll do you a half price deal if it's a tattoo you're after."

She laughed nervously.

"Oh no, I wasn't thinking about another tattoo – I just wanted to see you, I mean, to see how you were doing. You seemed really down yesterday."

He checked the box again and cursed under his breath.

"Oh screw it! I'm missing two orders of living metal compound..."

"I wonder if maybe I could help you out, if you need help with anything?" she offered.

Felix snatched up his phone from the desk.

"Where's the number..." he muttered, "That son of a bitch owes me, half my freakin' order's missing!"

He searched through the paperwork and then snatched up a document and put the number into his phone, stabbing at the buttons as he muttered under his breath about wanting his order in twenty four hours or a full refund.

Then he paced the room, and shouted when the phone was answered, demanding to know where the rest of his order had got to.

While he was doing this, Megan stood there watching him ranting angrily on the phone, guessing it wouldn't be wise to cut in and suggest he took a deep breath and tried to calm down...

She guessed he certainly had a fiery side – but maybe this _anger_ thing that everyone spoke so much about was just part of his passionate nature, after all, he was an artist, and artists were supposed to be passionate, emotional people...at least, she hoped she was right about that...

"_...And if it's not here by noon tomorrow I'm coming over to your office and shoving my order up your ass!"_ Felix snapped, and then he shut off the call and set the phone down hard on the desk.

He glanced at Megan.

"Are you still here?"

She smiled nervously, and then blushed as she wondered if his fiery nature reflected on him as a lover, too...

But Felix did not smile back at her.

"Don't you have better things to do than hang about my studio?"

His remark gave her an idea.

"I like being in here, I like you, too. I think you're a nice guy."

He raised an eyebrow.

"Not many people say that when they get to know me, _grumpy bastard_ is the usual description."

She laughed, but he did not.

"I don't see you that way at all."

Felix closed the box and put it under his desk.

"Why?" he asked her, "Don't you notice these things?"

As he looked at her, she shook her head.

"I guess I just remember you're the man who rebuilt my Dad's face all those years ago. I'm so sorry you had to stop working in cybernetics, you were a brilliant scientist, everyone said so."

"I was," Felix replied, "Till that crazy bitch from the cemetery decided to put an end to it."

Those words made Megan's heart ache for him.

"But you've got your new career. You're a very gifted metallic tattooist."

He shrugged.

"That's all I've got left," he replied, "That attack wrecked my life. It's still not over; it won't be over until Dr Bradford can fix the shaking in my arm."

Then he fell silent for a moment before adding:

"But even then, there's this big hole in my life. Nothing can ever be the same again, I feel like I've lost a part of myself."

Megan stepped closer to him.

She thought about her fantasy and wanted to kiss him, but she had no excuse because he didn't have the problem with his arm today and he had shaved and showered and was wearing a clean shirt. She wanted to tell him how she felt but the courage it required was immense and instead the words stayed stuck somewhere above her heart, but below her throat.

"I think you're a wonderful person," she said in a hushed voice.

Surprise registered in his eyes.

"Wonderful? Makes a change from being called bad tempered and obnoxious," he remarked.

"If you ever need any help in the studio, I'd love to work for you."

"I don't want any help," he replied, "I need to do this on my own, I'm trying every day to get my independence back."

She nodded, taking the refusal with a smile.

"Okay, I just thought I'd ask."

She felt stuck for what to say next, but then Felix walked away from the desk and headed for the door.

"Do you want a coffee, Megan?" he asked her, "I can actually make coffee today because I'm not shaking."

"I'd love some," she replied, and followed him out of the studio, smiling as her heart skipped a beat and he led her along the hallway and into the kitchen.

* * *

While Felix made the coffee, Megan sat at the kitchen table and watched him, noticing the tremor in his hand was much less pronounced now.

"So," she said after a moments thought, "When are you and Bess getting married?"

He laughed off her question.

"_We're not."_

"You're not deeply in love?" she wondered.

"We just don't have that kind of relationship, I don't do marriage."

His back was turned as he made the coffee.

She frowned as she thought about his remark, and then reasoned he meant he simply hadn't met the right woman yet...

"Have you ever been married?" she asked.

"No," he replied.

"I guess you were too busy with your work back in the days when you were a cybernetic scientist."

"No, I just don't want to get married," he told her.

Then he set the coffee down on the table and sat down.

"I bet you'll be thinking about marrying Riley Scolex some day soon."

"_We broke up." _

As the words flew out of her mouth, Megan was surprised how easily she had made that statement.

"I've been with Bess for several years," he told her, "I think what happened to me has made us even stronger."

And Megan's heart sank.

"That's good," she said quietly as she sipped her coffee.

"But we're not _ever _thinking about marriage or kids or any of that stuff."

She put down her coffee and stared at him as her hopes suddenly soared miles past the roof of the house and somewhere up into the blue skies above Riverton.

"You're not committed?"

He smiled, and then he winked.

"You're far too young to think about what me and Bess get up to, Megan. But hearts and flowers don't exactly come into it - if you get what I mean."

And she couldn't reply, because that wink had turned her knees to jelly.

"And it was nice of you to offer," he added, "But I don't need an assistant in the studio. I get why you'd want to work with me though – I mean, me and your Dad look so alike."

"You don't look so much like him any more," Megan replied, "You've changed so much since –"

And then she stopped as the look in his eyes clouded with sadness.

"Since I was critically injured," he told her, "I know I've lost weight..."

"But you look really good for it." she added.

And as she smiled and looked into his eyes, Felix recognised the glow about her face and the way she was looking at him:

_Gadget's daughter had a crush. It was the last thing he needed to deal with right now..._

"I've just remembered I've got someone coming over in..." he checked his watch, "Around twenty minutes...its someone who's thinking about a possible design. I need to get my sketches organized."

And he got up and so did Megan.

"It's been great talking to you," she said, "Maybe I can come over again."

And she put her arms around him and hugged him, crushing her body against him.

Felix held her lightly, stepping back quickly from the embrace of the pretty young woman who was certainly old enough - but if he was honest, she was too young for him and she was out of his reach anyway - _because her father was the great Inspector Gadget, who would show up on his doorstep and beat the crap out of him if he as much as kissed his daughter on the hand..._

"You'd better go," he said quietly, "I've got a lot to get on with."

He avoided her gaze for a moment, but then she stepped closer and spoke again and as he saw such longing in her eyes, his defences began to rapidly weaken as his arousal increased and he shook his head.

"I get it, Megan. I think you like me a lot. _But I'm with Bess and the answer has to be No._"

"I wish it could be yes."

She leaned in, kissing his cheek.

He caught his breath and stepped back.

"That's enough. You should go. Please don't make me get mad about this, I'm flattered – but I can't."

"Okay..." she said quietly, "I understand..."

She sounded broken by his rejection, but Felix stayed strong.

"I'll probably see you around..."

He avoided eye contact.

"Probably," he replied, and he walked with her to the front door and opened it for her.

Megan stepped outside.

"You know where I am if –"

"_Sure,"_ he said quickly, _"And I have to go now."_

The door closed.

Megan stood on the doorstep wondering why he had turned her away so sharply.

As tears stung her eyes she hurried up the path and out of the gate, and then walked quickly away from the house, stifling a sob as she broke into a run, wanting to put a distance from herself and the man who had broken her heart so sharply with his rejection.

* * *

Gadget had woken from his sleep in the middle of the afternoon and got up, cautiously checked the wound on his temple had healed and then he left the bedroom and went downstairs.

Brenda met him at the bottom of the stairs with a concerned look in her eyes.

"You didn't go to work today?" he asked.

"I couldn't leave you, Gadget. How are you feeling?"

He rubbed his temple and felt no pain where the cybernetic skin had healed.

"I'm okay. I'm just thankful no one got hurt. Where's Megan?"

"She went out," Brenda replied, "I hope she went to see Riley. I know she'll feel better once they've sorted out their differences."

"I scared her," Gadget said, feeling guilty as he recalled the way Megan had sobbed as Brenda had fought to subdue him as she shut down his Gadget Mode, "That's enough of a wake up call for me. It was bad enough I frightened you, but now I've upset Megan too – I can see you're right now. I can't let this carry on. I'm going to see that shrink; I've got nothing to lose."

Relief shone in Brenda's eyes as she put her arms around him and hugged him.

"Thank you so much Gadget." She said gently as she let go of him again, "You won't regret this, it really will help you so much."

"I'm still not looking forward to it," he added, "I've always handled life on my terms; I've never needed a shrink to help me process my own thoughts."

"It's not like that," Brenda promised him, "Therapy will help you put the bad memories in their proper place, and then you won't have to worry about the bad dreams any more."

"I hope you're right," he replied.

"I've already made the appointment; you're seeing Allison tomorrow morning, nine thirty am."

Gadget stared at his wife.

_"You could have asked me first!"_

"I thought in light of what happened you wouldn't refuse. I hope I did the right thing."

Suddenly Gadget didn't want to hold Brenda in his arms again, not as he considered how she had gone behind his back and rushed the appointment with the shrink like that...

"I hope you did the right thing too," he replied quietly, "I'm going back upstairs."

"I'll come up and join you," Brenda said kindly, but Gadget shook his head.

"It's best if you don't, honey. After that bad dream I really think it's best if I sleep alone until this mess is sorted out."

Gadget turned away and began to walk back up the stairs.

Brenda felt an ache in her heart as he walked away from her.

"Gadget?"

He heard her anxious tone and stopped midway up the stairs and looked down.

"Did you mind me making the appointment so quickly for you?"

Hurt reflected in Gadget's eyes.

"No, I didn't mind you doing it at all," he said quietly, "But I didn't like that you went behind my back so fast and assumed I'd go along with it."

"But you said you wanted to have therapy."

"And you could have waited to hear that from me properly," Gadget replied, "I would have appreciated a little bit of time to sit and talk to you about it first. _It doesn't matter now_."

And then he went up the stairs and Brenda was left standing alone in the hallway as she wondered if something had just changed between them in a way that could never be put right again...

* * *

Next morning, Gadget was waiting outside the office of Dr Allison Montgomery.

He sat in silence as he watched the clock and waited, and while he waited he loosened his tie and still felt uncomfortable as he thought about all he had faced in his life and got through without the help of a psychiatrist.

Then he remembered how his dreams had got out of control, and although he still resented Brenda for making the appointment so quickly, he knew he had no choice in the matter.

Then the door opened and Allison spoke his name.

She smiled and asked him to step into her office and he got up stiffly and followed her inside.

As she closed the door he looked around the comfortable room and felt pleasantly surprised that it didn't look at all clinical; there was a desk by the window and flowers in a vase on a nearby table, but she sat down on comfortable sofa across the other side of the room and invited him to sit beside her.

Gadget sat down and looked at the smartly dressed redhead with dark eyes and forced a smile.

"So what am I supposed to do now? Relax and tell you all about my bad dreams?"

Allison paused. She looked down at her notes, then turned the page and looked over some more notes, which made Gadget feel uneasy as he wondered how far back she was planning to go through his records, and then she spoke up again.

"I don't doubt that you're a capable police officer," she told him, "Your record of excellent service speaks volumes for you. But these nightmares you've been having are a symptom of something much deeper."

And Gadget gave a sigh and briefly closed his eyes as he remembered it would not look good at all if he lost his temper the minute he walked into her office...

He turned his head and looked at her.

"So what _is_ this about? You've been in the same room with me for two minutes and you have answers already. Clearly I'm in the wrong job – yours must be so easy, Dr Montgomery. _All you do is sit there and make guesses_."

She disregarded his hostile tone and continued to explain:

"When the Body snatcher abducted you, it placed you in a situation that in some ways mirrored your experience of cyborg conversion. You had no choice about having seventy percent of your body replaced, just like you had no choice when you were abducted and faced the possibility of having your cybernetic body taken apart. Do you see what I mean?"

Gadget shook his head.

"Sorry, but I don't see it at all. I was critically injured and cybernetics saved my life, _why _would I put that together with what happened when I was working on the Bodysnatcher case? It's a _totally_ different situation!"

"_But both times your consent was disregarded."_

Gadget took in a slow breath as he tried to fight off a wave of anger.

"So what?" he said darkly, "I'm in a dangerous job, I have to accept risk."

"How do you feel about the loss of your human body?"

Gadget felt his human-cyborg body tense sharply.

"Does it matter?"

"Of course it does."

Gadget shook his head.

"I don't feel that's relevant. Or maybe it is, but either way its none of your damned business. I'm here about the nightmares, not about what happened almost twenty years ago."

"Do you still feel the loss?" she asked.

Gadget fell silent for a moment.

"I'm thankful I'm still here."

"But do you feel the loss of your human body? You had terrible lower body injuries; almost everything below the waist was rebuilt robotically. That must have impacted on your self image, your confidence – your ability to enjoy intimacy..."

Gadget had been avoiding eye contact.

Now he turned and looked at her again, this time holding her in a firm gaze as he spoke with confidence.

"_I guess the best way I can answer that is to say to you, if I could have my human body back tomorrow, I'd say No. Because I don't think of my seventy percent cyborg body as robotics, I just see it as my body. And as for sex, let's get this cleared up right at the start – I can have better, more intense pleasure as a cyborg than I ever could have had in a human body. And the same goes for what I can do for a lover. I'm happy with the way I am, I wouldn't want to go back."_

She was surprised by his answer and briefly nodded.

"I see... well thank you for clearing that up, Inspector. I was only asking because I was –"

"Curious?" he wondered, and then he smiled.

Allison smiled too and briefly looked down at her notes.

"What about the cybernetic work you had done to your face? I understand your face was replicated from a copy made by Dr Felix Todd. Do you ever think about that?"

Gadget laughed softly.

"I guess I got lucky the scientist who made the replica was a good looking guy. These days I've heard I look even better than he does. No I do _not_ have an issue with the facial surgery."

"What went through your mind when you were held captive by the Bodysnatcher?" she wondered.

Gadget felt a chill pass through his body as if metal and bone had been chilled to the core.

He took in a slow breath.

_"I'm not sure I can talk about that."_

"We can go back to it another time," she offered.

Gadget felt a shiver run through him and as he briefly wiped sweat from his face his hand trembled.

"No," he said in a hushed voice, "This is what I'm here for. I want to talk about it. _I thought I was going to die. I thought I'd never see my family again and I kept thinking.._."

He took in a sharp breath, alarmed at how fast tears were filing his eyes_, "I kept thinking, I'd only just got over the cybernetic toxin specific leukaemia, and now I felt like it had come back but in another way..."_

He dragged in a sob as tears ran from his eyes.

"That sounds crazy...maybe I _am_ crazy... I kept thinking, I lost more than half my body and had it replaced, that was the biggest fight of my life, to come to terms with that. I didn't think it was fair that I had to go through more, like..."

"Like being held prisoner?" she suggested.

Gadget briefly wiped his eyes.

_"No, like I was sick again. Like the leukaemia may as well have come back, but instead of the toxins, it was her, it was the Bodysnatcher...it was death coming for me..."_

Suddenly the pain was too much to bear and the weight of his own grief too heavy to carry. Gadget put his head in his hands and sobbed.

Allison put her hand on his shoulder as she spoke softly to him.

"I think you had a hard time coming to terms with accepting the cyborg body, but you adapted very well and then you assumed nothing else could go wrong."

"But it did," Gadget said, wiping his eyes again as he looked at her, "And that's what isn't fair. I knew there was a risk associated with the type one formula but I had it replaced three years after my conversion, I didn't think I'd get sick. I didn't deserve it, but it happened all the same."

"And bad things happen to good people every single day," she reminded him, "It's just life, it's random. And you do know that your illness was specifically caused by the toxins, you do know once cured it has a zero chance of recurring?"

Gadget nodded.

"I know that. I know all the facts but I still can't let go of it, I still keep thinking I'm going to get sick again."

"_But it won't happen."_

"I know that too. That's what doesn't make sense to me. Instead of having bad dreams about getting sick I have bad dreams about the Bodysnatcher coming for me."

"That's because the one thing both subjects had in common was a threat to your life," she told him, "Your subconscious blurred the lines distinguishing between the two. That's why you have the nightmares. The leukaemia's cured and it won't recur. The Bodysnatcher is in jail for the rest of her life. _There's nothing left to be afraid of_."

Suddenly Gadget felt immensely grateful to Brenda for persuading him to keep this appointment.

He thought about all Allison had said and then he nodded.

"I think you're right," he agreed, "But I'm Inspector Gadget, I'm not supposed to have weaknesses. Everyone sees me as some kind of hero in this town. I can't fall apart, I'm not allowed to."

"Everyone falls apart once in a while," she reminded him, "You need to talk more about what you've been through. I think you'll resolve this issue with a few more sessions."

"I feel like I want to go home and cry," he said honestly, "I want to go home to Brenda and cry. Am I supposed to feel that way?"

"It's a good start," she promised him.

Gadget managed to smile.

"I'm glad I came here today. Everything you've said actually makes sense."

"That's good," Allison replied, "So I'll see you next week?"

Gadget nodded.

"Definitely," he replied.

* * *

Riley Scolex had sent another message to Megan and got no reply.

Sanford was relaxing on a comfortable armchair while Penny was upstairs settling SJ down for a nap. As he sat there and stroked the cat that curled in his arms, he smiled.

"Oh this brings back such memories!" he exclaimed, "Not all good ones of course – I'm talking about the days before the time machine event, when I had plans for world domination with Scolex Industries!"

Riley cut off the call and stopped pacing the room and looked at his father.

"How can those days bring back good memories?"

The cat was purring as Sanford stroked his back.

"It's just nostalgia. And I've missed having a cat, I've missed that for so long!"

"_Megan won't answer her phone."_

Riley sounded unhappy.

Sanford gave a sigh.

"And you said you wouldn't call her for a couple of days and look at you now – running after the girl! Leave her alone, let her take some time to think, I'm sure she'll call you soon enough if you give her some space."

But Riley's eyes were still filled with sadness.

"What if she never comes back to me?"

"She will!"

_"I don't think I could live without her. I love her, Dad."_

Sanford had been looking fondly at his new cat.

On hearing his son's words he looked up sharply, feeling a flicker of alarm as he recalled Gadget had once told him that in the other timeline, Riley had suffered terribly with depression – things were not so different now, he certainly had days when he felt so low down he just wanted to sleep all day, but it didn't happen often. Except for the times when he had fights with Megan...

"Don't talk like that," Sanford replied, "You always get back together with her. Just give it time. Forget about her for a while!"

Riley shook his head.

"_I can't, Dad."_

And then he walked out of the room and Sanford listened as his son walked heavily up the stairs to shut himself away in his room again.

He looked down at his new cat, who looked up at him with questioning green eyes.

"I don't know, Mad Cat," he said, "Sometimes I don't understand my son at all..."

* * *

While Riley was sitting alone in his bedroom, Megan was doing the same – but her thoughts were not on Riley.

The only ray of light that had come into her life since Felix had turned her away was knowing that her Dad's session with the psychologist had gone very well. When he came home he had sat down and talked a lot about painful memories, Megan had listened and tried to be there for him, but she had never seen her Dad cry before and her mother had held him in her arms, telling him he needed to let out his emotions.

Megan had given him a hug and then quietly gone upstairs, where she sat on her bed and got out her diary and turned to the back page and wrote _Felix Todd_ in the middle of a heart, then she lay back looking up at the ceiling as she considered all that had happened, and wondered where she had gone wrong.

_He had been fine with her until she hugged him so tightly._

_That was when the look in his eyes had changed, and all of a sudden he couldn't get her out of the house fast enough..._

Megan wondered:

_Had he turned her away so fast because perhaps he liked her too?_

He had already told her he loved Bess, perhaps he had told her to leave because he had felt tempted to start something, and he was trying to resist the urge...

_Maybe. Perhaps. Nothing was certain._

She still ached in her heart to think he had turned her down so abruptly.

Then she wondered if this really _was_ the end of her chances with Felix – the thought that he didn't want to see her made her want to cry, but she clung to the hope that he had turned her away for another reason, possibly because he _did_ want her and was too afraid to admit it. She needed that hope, because without it, she was sure her heart would snap in half.

Megan had been in love before - she had known crushes, too, but nothing had ever come close to the intensity she felt for Felix Todd, and she had made up her mind that she would _not_ give up, because she loved him and she needed to hope for something...

* * *

Much later as the sun began to set, Gadget was on top of the bed, not daring to get beneath the covers in case he fell asleep. Even though his Gadget mode was disconnected, he still didn't trust himself to asleep beside his wife at night in case the dreams returned.

The session with Allison had gone well and after coming home and spending most of the day talking and crying and talking some more about his feelings regarding all that had happened, he felt sure he was already starting on the road to recovery.

But he still didn't want to risk sharing a bed with the woman he loved, just in case the bad dreams came back.

"You seem more at peace now," Brenda remarked as she lay beside him with her arms around him, "I knew the shrink would do you good."

Gadget smiled.

"I fought you all the way on it but you were right, Brenda. I can see it now, she _is_ good for me."

"I'm sorry I went behind your back over making the appointment. I know that hurt your feelings."

"Yes it did," Gadget replied, "But its working out and I'm glad I decided to do it."

And he leaned closer and kissed her, and then they lay together, watching the sun sink lower in the sky.

Gadget felt tired after the therapy session but just lying there next to his wife gave him a sense of peace.

And then the ringing phone cut through the peace he had finally found and he gave a groan and turned over and grabbed his cell phone from the table next to the bed.

"Gadget here," he said in a weary voice.

"Sorry to disturb you on your time off," said Chief Quimby, "But there's been a couple of incidents over at the Braydon Estate. My people have dealt with it, but with the way that place is going, it looks like I may have to call you in before the end of your leave. I'm not saying this is definite. But it could well come to a point soon where we need you over there, just to enforce the law a little more sternly than my people can manage. It would do them good to see a cyborg cop handling a situation. That's _if_ a situation arises."

Gadget gave a heavy sigh.

"Sure, Chief...I'll keep that in mind."

"And I heard you had a session with Dr Montgomery today. I'm glad about that – I heard you've had a few bad dreams. It's always better to talk these things over and get rid of them, Gadget. I'm just thankful the whole incident with the Bodysnatcher didn't leave you with lasting damage!"

"So am I, sir," Gadget said quickly, "And I'll be ready, so call me if you need me."

"I will Gadget. Enjoy your time off."

Quimby hung up and Gadget put the phone down, gave another sigh and then as he turned over and looked at Brenda, he spoke sadly.

"Looks like Quimby might be calling me in soon to keep the peace on the Braydon Estate. This is the last thing I need. But at least Allison didn't say too much about my problem with the nightmares, I think Quimby's under the impression it's been keeping me awake at night or something minor like that."

"No one wants to see your record damaged," Brenda reminded him, "This is being kept very quiet. She promised me she would be careful what she said in her report to the Chief."

Gadget still felt drained from the therapy session, he felt tired too and work was the last thing he wanted to think about.

"Brenda," he said quietly, "I know this might not be a good idea right now, but if I get called back to work, you'll have to reconnect my Gadget Mode."

"I know," she replied.

Worry reflected in his eyes as he looked at his wife.

"But you _can_ trust me with it – I'll sleep on the couch. And I'm having the therapy now, I know it's helping... I just don't want you to be afraid of what might happen if I have a bad dream. Maybe I won't have any more nightmares, maybe its under control now."

Brenda shifted closer to him as she rested her head on his shoulder and tried not to think about the risk he might pose if his Gadget Mode was reconnected too soon.

"Maybe it _is_ under control," she said quietly as she lay beside him, _"I hope so, for all our sakes..."_


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The morning began bright and warm and as Gadget left the house, he felt the sense of dread that had hung over him for so long begin to lift.

He thought of all the times he had resisted Brenda's suggestion of therapy and felt sure he would never again push his wife's advice aside; _Brenda had been right._

It was not easy talking about all that troubled him, but his worries were beginning to ease, he knew it for certain because life suddenly felt more bearable.

"How are you this morning, Gadget?" asked the car as he got comfortable in the drivers seat.

"Fine," Gadget replied, "I think everything's going to be all right."

And he smiled down at the face on the screen. It looked up at him with interest.

"So as this is your time off work, _where_ are we going today?"

"I'm going to see Felix Todd," he replied.

"Great, maybe you can help each other," the car remarked as the engine fired up.

Gadget would have denied needing any help a short while ago, but his talk with Allison had made him come to understand the truth of the situation.

"I think you're right," he agreed, and as they drove away, he felt mildly surprised to find that admitting such a weakness was much less painful than he had expected it to be.

They turned on to the highway.

As the fields flashed by and they passed the Riverton sign, Gadget's throat grew tight as he spotted the shining monuments of Steel Temple in the distance.

He was doing it again - gripping the wheel tightly as he broke out in a sweat, half afraid his heart would begin to race and his hands would shake.

He took in a slow breath.

"You drive," he said to the car, and then he let go of the wheel, listening to the rush of air as the Gadget Mobile sped along with the top down as he recalled all that Allison had told him, and remembered over and over the most important part of all:

_There was nothing left to be afraid of..._

"I know what you're doing," the car said, "And if you want a clue, there's twenty seconds to go and then it's behind us..."

"Okay..." Gadget said nervously.

The car was still speeding along and he didn't want to count down the seconds in his mind, because his heart was beating a little too fast and he was too afraid to open his eyes and see the cemetery as they passed it.

_"No,"_ Gadget whispered under his breath, _"Not good enough..."_

His heart was still racing. It was racing in a way that suggested there would be no let up, that it would only get worse...

He tried recalling her words again.

His heart was still racing.

_Then Gadget tried something else._

It was one of those desperate moments where he just wanted _something_ to work, and what came to mind took his thoughts off the cemetery at once.

"I'm going to open my eyes," Gadget announced.

"Not yet...ten seconds to go..." the car warned him.

Gadget opened his eyes.

He turned his head and took in the sight of the shining steel monuments as the cemetery flashed by.

Then he looked back to the road, placed his hands on the wheel and smiled as he looked down at the face on the screen.

_"I do believe I don't have a problem with this stretch of road any more."_

The face stared up at him in surprise.

"But..._how_ did you do that?"

Gadget was looking very pleased with himself as he glanced back down at the screen.

"It's a secret."

"I didn't think partners kept secrets from each other!" the car complained.

"This has to be a secret," Gadget replied, "And I'm _not_ planning on sharing it – let's just say it was a trick I came up with to distract myself."

"I'd love to know what it was!"

"No," Gadget replied, "That's too personal. _Sorry_."

The car complained again about not being let in on the secret, but Gadget said no more as he took over driving and turned the car off the highway and then headed for the street where Felix lived.

* * *

As he drove along the tree lined avenue, Gadget felt a strange mix of victory and guilt – sure, he had beaten his demons...but he wasn't exactly proud of the way he had done it...

_Thinking about what Allison had said had not been enough._

So instead, he had pictured her unbuttoning her blouse and lying back on her couch as she spoke to him breathlessly, saying:

"_Please, Gadget... show me how a cyborg makes love..."_

The thought was still bringing a smirk to his face as he shook his head, guessing he had nothing to feel guilty about. _All men looked. All men thought about it. As long as he didn't act on it, there was no problem. _He had been faithful to Brenda right from the start and intended to stay that way, but if his mind could conjure images of Allison and banish his fears at a time when he needed it the most, he saw no harm in it...

The car slowed to a halt outside the home of Dr Felix Todd.

"See you soon." Gadget said, and got of the car.

"You sounded just like your old self when you said that!" The car replied, "I think you're getting better, Gadget!"

"I think so too," he replied, and then he opened the gate and walked up the path that led to the front door.

* * *

Gadget knocked twice and waited.

As the door opened and he found himself looking into the eyes of Bess Nightingale, he felt a brief ache in his heart for a past wiped out by the time machine, but then it was gone, because those memories only existed in clarity on the chip he had removed a year ago and secretly stored away...

"Hello Inspector," she said warmly, "It's good to see you! Come in."

Gadget accepted her invitation, smiling as he looked at her, yet silently feeling regret for a past that no longer existed:

Here in the altered timeline she still looked a perfect blend of flesh and metal, but in this reality, he had not been the one to encourage her to do it, she had taken an interest in cosmetic cybernetics and then persuaded Felix to share her love of it; in this timeline, Gadget had never held Bess, never kissed her...it was strange how when he thought of Brenda and Megan he felt so blessed, yet when he was confronted with memories of Bess, he felt reminded of the fact that nothing _ever_ came free in life, there was always a price – he had his family now, but had lost Bess Nightingale. _That was the price of toying with time._ _The universe gave nothing away for free..._

"So what brings you over here?" Bess wondered as she led him through to the front room.

"I'm not on duty," Gadget replied, "I was just passing by and ...well, I've been thinking about Felix and I wondered if it would do us both good to sit down and talk about what happened with the Bodysnatcher case."

Then Gadget lowered his voice.

"I've heard he's been having a hard time. Me too, just in a different way. I was hoping we might be able to help each other."

"I think that would be a wonderful idea," Bess said softly, "He's been struggling, and he's not the kind of person to accept much help, either. Maybe it would do him good to talk to you."

Gadget was suddenly aware of how close he was standing to Bess, and flickering feelings were tugging at his heart, giving him a strange sensation of the timelines blurring.

He knew it was just the effect of the memories of the other past; here those memories had never existed, they lived on only as ghosts preserved on a memory chip...

The need to use that chip again, and see the other past in clarity was burning away at his heart as he looked into her eyes.

"Is Felix home?" he asked, and silently wished he had destroyed the chip, because as long as it existed, he would always have a means to replay everything he recalled...

Bess answered him politely, showing no affection in her voice or her eyes because in this reality, they had never been in love.

"He's upstairs getting ready to go out, he should be down in a minute."

"I didn't realize you had plans," Gadget replied, "I can come back another day –"

"No, I'm off to work soon. Felix has an appointment at the cybernetics center with your wife."

Gadget blinked.

"I didn't know that."

As he spoke he reasoned that in light of how crazy everything had been recently, it was no surprise Brenda hadn't thought to mention Felix had an appointment with her that morning...

Bess checked her watch.

"He's leaving in thirty minutes. But I'm sure he would like to see you."

Gadget sat on the sofa and waited as Bess left the room and called to Felix.

Moments later Felix walked into the front room.

Bess said she was going to make some coffee, and then left them alone together.

Gadget wondered why Felix looked rather on edge. He stood in the doorway and ran a shaking hand through his hair. He was breaking out in a light sweat as he spoke nervously.

"Hi...um... Bess said you wanted to talk to me about something?"

And then Felix looked at Gadget, recalling the day he had stormed into the lab and hit him as he wondered if Megan had gone home crying because he had rejected her. It had crossed his mind that she could have said anything to get back at him if she felt like it, and he didn't want to fight with Gadget again...

He laughed nervously.

"Last time you turned up unannounced I got a punch in the face!"

And Gadget's eyes reflected deep regret as he recalled the day he had hit Felix.

"I wanted to talk to you about something personal, it's difficult but I think it could do us both good. We _are_ friends, right?"

Felix nodded, feeling slightly more at ease as he walked over to the sofa and sat down beside him.

"I just want to explain something first," Felix began, shooting him a nervous glance, "Since I was attacked, my life has changed."

Then he lowered his voice, and continued:

"You might think it's wrong but I swear _nothing _happened!"

Gadget looked at him intently, wondering what he was talking about.

"I've had a lot of problems since the head injury," Felix said quietly, "Me and Bess used to have a great sex life but I can't seem to manage it these days. I've been told it's the shock of what happened, it's psychological - and the one time I actually managed to get fully turned on it wasn't for Bess and I _had_ to say no! It was so frustrating I wanted to hit my head against a wall, but I _had_ to turn her down. _I think you know what I mean._"

Gadget shook his head.

"I don't have a clue what you mean."

And Felix breathed a relieved sigh and laughed nervously again.

"You don't know? That's okay...forget I said it..."

But his remarks had made Gadget curious.

"Who was she?" he asked.

Felix shook his head.

"Doesn't matter. Just some girl who threw herself at me. I made it clear I wasn't interested. So, what did want to see me about?"

"I was hoping we could talk about the Bodysnatcher case. I know you've been through a lot and so have I. And I thought it might help if we talked about what we've been through."

Felix thought about it as he glanced down and rubbed at his trembling hand.

"I guess it could do some good," he replied, still looking down at his hand, "I don't know what you went through, but I don't see any visible scars."

Then he looked up and met his gaze as sadness reflected in his eyes.

"I see my scars every day," Felix said quietly, "I run a comb through my hair and I see where they had to open up my head. I take my shirt off and I see more scars. And sometimes the pupil in my right eye dilates too fast and I can see the light behind it from the wiring. It looks horrible and it hurts a lot too."

"Some nights I'm afraid to fall asleep because of the nightmares," Gadget told him, "I'm seeing a shrink to try and sort it out."

"I was offered therapy," Felix replied, "But it wasn't for me. I take a lot of pills instead; they get me through the day."

Gadget nodded.

"Sometimes I feel like nothing will ever be the same again."

"I've only got two memories," Felix replied, "Before the attack and after. That's my life split down the middle."

And Gadget's heart went out to him as he caught the look of despair in his eyes and felt thankful he had another set of memories to escape into – _he still had the chip that could replay the other timeline, and he could access it any time he wanted to..._

"I'm glad you came over today," Felix told him, "I do feel alone with this sometimes."

"Are the cybernetic repairs difficult to live with?" Gadget wondered.

Felix shrugged.

"I'm still alive and I can function, that's better than being dead or half dead with no hope of recovery. But I hate the shaking in my arm, and all the other problems I have. I used to work in cybernetics; I always thought about the success rate, not the failures - not until I became one of them."

"You know Brenda's one of the best cybernetics experts around, don't you?"

Felix nodded.

"I know I can trust her. But she said to me, I'm having all these problems because the wiring was an emergency procedure – they had to wire up the electronic brain function into damaged tissue. That's why it doesn't work as well as it should."

"I had a lot of trouble when I first became a cyborg," Gadget told him, "I had so many glitches it used to make me a nervous wreck! I'd just started out as Inspector, I didn't have a clue how to do my job, I didn't know how capable I would be in the job and on top of it all I had malfunctions that made me look like an idiot, often at the worst possible times. But after a lot of work and upgrades, things got easier. They'll get easier for you too. I'm sorry you've got to go through more procedures but at the end of it, I don't think you'll regret the outcome."

As Felix looked at him worry clouded his eyes once more.

"I've got to have a scan today to find out how bad these connections are. If it's bad news I have to have a monitoring device fitted for the next three weeks."

Then Bess came back into the room.

She set the coffee down on the table and smiled at Gadget and Felix.

"I'll leave you to talk, I have to go to work now. Good luck with today, and try not to worry, honey."

She put her arm around Felix and gave him a tender kiss.

As she let go it seemed he wanted to cling on to her for a few more seconds, but Bess stepped back and checked her watch.

"I'll call you around lunchtime," she promised him, and then she looked to Gadget.

"It was nice to see you, Inspector."

Then she walked out the room, and moments later the front door closed.

Felix gave a sigh.

"I want to cancel that appointment."

"You can't," Gadget told him, "You need to get the problem fixed."

As Felix looked at him, anger burned in his eyes.

"I've been through enough! It's too much to expect me to go through more! It's too much pain, too much surgery...I can't do this for much longer."

And Gadget thought back to the early days of his own cybernetic conversion and understood completely.

"I'll come with you."

"I've already told my girlfriend I don't need her to hold my hand, why should I have _you_ holding it instead?"

"I won't hold anything," Gadget said in surprise, "I was just thinking I might come along and wait for you so you didn't feel so alone. I can wait outside if you like."

Felix nodded.

"Okay, I don't mind that. Thanks, Gadget. And you're right – its _is _good for us to talk about this stuff. I don't think I could talk to anyone else about it."

Then Felix checked his watch.

"I'd better leave now – I don't want to be late, the sooner I get there, the sooner I can get it over with."

He got up from the sofa and so did Gadget.

"I'll drive you there," Gadget offered.

"Why, can you tell I'm too worked up to drive myself?" Felix asked him.

Gadget smiled.

"No," he replied, "The Gadget Mobile can drive, then we can both sit back and relax."

"Relax?" Felix muttered as he made his way down the hall to the front door, "I can't remember the last time I managed to do that!"

And he hesitated as he reached for the latch to open the door.

"Come on," Gadget said kindly, "It won't be so bad, you'll get through it."

And they left the house, walked down the path and then the two men got into the waiting Gadget Mobile.

* * *

No matter hard Megan tried to forget him, thoughts of Felix Todd had stayed bright in her mind.

After checking her phone and finding yet another message from Riley, she thought about all her mother had told her about Dr Todd's condition, and decided to find out more.

So she had gone into town, heading in the direction of the cybernetics lab.

Just as she had arrived at her destination, her phone had beeped again.

Megan walked into the building and checked the message, then went to wait for an elevator.

By the time she was on her way up to the second floor she had already sent a reply:

'_Sorry Riley, speak later – I need space.'_

Then she put the phone back in her pocket and headed towards her mother's office.

As she knocked on the open door, Brenda was surprised to see her daughter standing there.

"What are you doing here?" she asked her.

And that question was difficult to answer, because she had given no thought to finding a plausible explanation for her sudden curiosity in the workings of cybernetic medicine...

"I was thinking about what you said about Felix Todd," Megan began, "And I decided to come over and see if you could show me some more about his case."

Brenda stared at her daughter.

"You do know what patient confidentiality means?"

"Of course."

"I feel bad enough discussing his case with your father, I really think it would be wrong to talk about this any more!"

Megan looked sadly at her mother.

"But Felix is such a nice guy, and he gave me such a beautiful tattoo. And I'll always remember he was once the cybernetics expert who gave my dad his new face. I think it's so sad that he's been through so much."

As she spoke again, Brenda's tone softened.

"Oh Megan, you're so kind – and yes, it _is_ terrible that Felix had to give up his career after the attack, and I know it's sad that he's still having problems. But that's common when patients are given emergency cybernetic treatment – especially when its done to repair a head injury."

Megan tried again, recalling how her mother had always hoped she would follow her into cybernetics one day.

"You know how much I'm interested in cybernetic medicine. One day I might even want to make a career out of it. I want to learn all I can."

Brenda shook her head.

"Sorry, but no, I can't let you have access to patient information."

Then Brenda checked the time.

"You should go, Megan. I've got an appointment with a patient in ten minutes – _actually, it's with Felix Todd_."

Megan's heart skipped a beat and ached at the same time. She was still hurting from his rejection, but all the same needed to know he was okay.

"Mom, can I _please_ sit in on the consultation?"

Brenda looked hard at her daughter.

"I'm well aware you're thinking about a trainee position here at the cybernetics center, but you haven't even filled in the paperwork yet – and ultimately the decision on allowing a third party to observe would rest with the patient."

Megan looked at her pleadingly.

"But you are the chief cybernetics expert in this place – and I _am_ your daughter."

"I knew you'd play that card eventually!"

Megan smiled hopefully.

"Please, Mom?"

"Okay," Brenda told her, "I'll ask Dr Todd if he has any objections. And don't be surprised if he does – he finds coming here very stressful."

"Thanks Mom," she said.

Brenda thought about how worked up Felix got over his appointments.

"Don't thank me yet," she reminded her, "Just go and sit in the waiting area, I'll come and fetch you if he says yes. _But I think he's going to say no._"

* * *

As Felix entered the cybernetics center, he paused and took in a deep breath.

"_I might cancel this appointment."_

They were a short distance from the elevator that would take them up to the first floor.

Gadget looked at Felix, and Felix looked back at him like a deer caught in headlights.

"I can't go through with this."

"Yes you can," Gadget promised him, and put a hand on his shoulder and led him over to the elevator.

Felix just stood there while Gadget pressed the button and then the doors slid open.

"Come on," he said.

Felix shook his head.

"If you don't do it today you'll never come back here again, "Gadget told him.

"I know you're right," Felix said reluctantly, and then he stepped into the elevator.

The short ride to the next floor was made in silence; when the doors opened again, Felix got out and began to walk towards Brenda's office. Gadget walked with him, but when he reached the door, Felix turned back to him.

"Thanks," he said, "But I need to do this on my own."

"Maybe I should come with you," Gadget offered.

He shook his head.

"I don't need anyone to hold my hand. I'll see you when it's over."

Then he knocked on Brenda's door, and she told him to come in.

* * *

Gadget began walking towards the waiting area at the end of the corridor.

As he got closer, he noticed a young woman sitting alone by a window, and he thought how much she reminded him of his daughter. Then he took a few more steps into the waiting area and realized it _was_ his daughter.

Megan seemed deep in thought.

"What are you doing here?" he asked her.

She turned her head and looked at him in surprise.

"Oh...I was... hoping Mom might let me sit in on one of her cases today...I'm thinking about applying to be a trainee here."

Gadget sat down next to his daughter and smiled.

"That's great, I'd be very proud of you if you followed her into cybernetic medicine."

She smiled too.

"I thought you might have wanted me to be a cop."

"I don't mind what you do as long as you're happy," he told her.

Then he noticed her face looked pale.

"Are you okay?"

"Fine," Megan replied, as she cast an anxious glance down the corridor and thought about Felix.

Gadget looked at her intently.

"Are you sure there's nothing wrong? You look like you've got something on your mind."

"No," she said quietly.

She sat there in silence for a few more moments then turned back to him.

"Actually Dad, there _is_ something, I've got _someone_ on my mind –"

"Riley?" he guessed.

She shook her head.

"Not exactly...there's this guy, I like him and ...well... I say _like_, but he's not like Riley, he's –"

Gadget's cell phone rang.

He gave a sigh as he took it from his pocket and recognized Quimby's number.

"What does he want now?" he complained, and got up, glancing back at his daughter.

"Sorry honey – I can't ignore it. I'm _always_ on duty...even when I take time off!"

Then he took the call.

"Gadget here," he said.

"There was an incident at the Braydon estate today," the Chief said gravely, "A hostage situation, a domestic incident that got out of hand. Thankfully my men were able to quickly resolve the situation quickly. But next time it might not end that way. I'm aware you're on leave but could you please come in to HQ, I'm getting my best officers together to run through a briefing of the layout of the estate and what to do in case of an emergency, it's best if I have everyone together for it. We meet in thirty minutes."

"I'll be there sir," Gadget replied, and then he ended the call and turned back to his daughter.

"Sorry, honey – I have to go. Quimby's calling a big meeting about the trouble on the Braydon estate and he wants everyone there, including me. Would you give Felix a message, please? Tell him I got called out on police business – and tell him I'm sorry, because I did promise I'd wait for him."

She nodded eagerly.

"Of course I'll tell him!"

"I have to go now, or I'll be late for the meeting," Gadget added, and then he hurried off down the corridor.

Megan sat there thinking about all her father had said, and then she suddenly started to smile:

She had a message to deliver - _now she had a genuine reason to wait around for Felix Todd..._

* * *

Brenda had spent five minutes with her patient and noticed he was terribly nervous. He was shaking, and not only because of the tremor in his arm.

"I don't think I can go through much more of this," he said quietly.

"We won't know exactly how much you need to consider until I've scanned the internal wiring," Brenda reminded him, "Please don't be frightened. You're in very good hands at this facility."

"I know," he replied, "Your husband reminded me of that when he drove me over here."

"Gadget's here?" Brenda said in surprise.

Then there was a knock on the door.

"Excuse me," she said to Felix, and she went over to the door and opened it.

Felix turned around and stared as he wondered what Megan was doing there...

"I told you to wait," Brenda reminded her quietly.

"I know that Mom, but Dad drove Dr Todd here and then he got a call from Quimby about a meeting – and he had to go."

And she looked over at Felix, her heart was pounding and her face felt hot, but she was sure she was the only one aware of it.

"My Dad sends his apologies," she told him, "He had to leave because Quimby needed him at the meeting."

"Thanks for letting me know," Felix said quietly, and looked down at the floor.

Brenda turned back to Felix.

"I know this is a difficult time for you, but I was about to ask if Megan could sit in on your consultation."

He stared at her. The look of alarm in his eyes spoke for him; she was expecting her patient to refuse, but to be sure he understood the reason for her request, she explained fully:

"Megan is considering a position as a trainee cybernetic medic and she wanted to observe me with a patient today. If you're not willing to consent to that we will both understand completely."

Megan glanced at Felix.

"I'll understand if you don't want me here," she said, and as she spoke he recalled the hurt look he had seen in her eyes when he had rejected her advances.

_"I don't mind at all,"_ he said quietly, _"That's fine by me."_

He caught the surprised look on Megan's face, then he turned away, facing Dr Bradford's desk once more.

As Brenda sat down, Megan took a seat beside him but Felix fixed his gaze only on Brenda as he spoke again.

"I just want to get this over with," he said, "I'll have the scan as soon as you're ready for me."

"I can do it now," she told him, "Give me five minutes to set up the lab equipment."

And then she left the room, leaving Felix and Megan alone together.

Felix glanced nervously at the clock on the wall as he wished his appointment was already finished, and then he glanced at Megan, but looked away again. Then he took his cell phone from his pocket and pretended to be checking for messages.

The silence was making Megan feel uncomfortable.

She took out her own cell phone, and then she pretended to check her messages, too...

* * *

As Gadget drove towards the police department, his mind felt weighed down with too many worries:

_The therapy with Allison was going well, but perhaps too well. He was starting to feel guilty about the kind of thoughts he had enjoyed about her, but it certainly kept his demons at bay... _

_Then he wondered just how bad this situation at the Braydon Estate would get, and if he was likely to get any proper time off work at all._

_He briefly thought about his daughter and how she had been about to share her boyfriend troubles with him before the phone rang. _

_At times like this he resented his job..._

And all the while he was turning everything over in his mind, his heart was aching because he had spoken to Bess Nightingale. It seemed crazy, because in this timeline, they had never been lovers – and he knew the love of his life was his wife Brenda. But it was as if the other past was calling to him, beckoning like a ghost to step back, to blur the lines of reality and lose himself for a few hours by running the memories he still kept of the other past.

By the time he reached the police department, his mind was made up:

_When he got home, he would wait until it was late and his family were sleeping._

_Then he would run the chip and relive a past that only he recalled..._

* * *

As Megan stood in the lab, she knew her heart was pounding as her mother told Felix to take off his shirt and lie down on the table.

As he began to open buttons, she couldn't take her eyes off him as she pictured his perfect, muscular chest. She was sure the sight of it would fuel a thousand fantasies, and she was glad her mother was setting up the scanner, and Felix was looking down and not up at her, because she couldn't help but feel excited and she was sure it showed in her eyes...

Then Felix took off his shirt and as she stepped forward, Megan managed to find her voice.

"I'll hold that for you."

"Thanks," Felix replied, and turned towards her as he handed her his shirt.

Megan stared at him. She didn't mean to stare, but she couldn't help herself, because what she saw was not what she had expected at all:

Felix was lean and his body was firm, but a deep ugly scar ran from his shoulder into the center of his chest, then a second branch of the scar stretched up to his shoulder and ran down the inside of his arm, all the way to his wrist. A second scar snaked up from his lower throat and ran around to the back of his neck.

He sounded self conscious as he tried to make light of it.

"If you think this is bad, you should see the scars on my head," he said to her, and he ran his fingers through his hair and she caught a glimpse of more deep scarring.

"That's what happens when cybernetics are fitted beneath human skin. I don't have flawless skin like your Dad because mine's not cybernetic. It's all flesh and blood and I _know _the scars are ugly."

"I didn't mean to stare," Megan said quickly.

Felix got on to the table and laid back, closing his eyes as Brenda shifted the scanner closer.

"Everyone stares, don't beat yourself up about it," he replied, then he fell silent as the scanner fired up and Brenda began to study the images of the wiring that ran through his body.

Megan waited until the scan was over, then as Felix got up she handed him his shirt back, and made sure this time she did _not_ stare at his many scars.

"So can I go now?" Felix asked.

Brenda was still studying the images created by the scanner.

"Would you wait in my office while I check through the scans one more time?" she asked him, and as he finished buttoning up his shirt, worry clouded his eyes.

"I already know I need some wiring fixed...why do you have to make me wait like this?"

"I won't be a minute," she replied, and then she looked to Megan.

"Could you take Felix back to my office and wait with him?"

"Sure," Megan said, and she walked over to the door.

"This won't take long," she promised him, "My Mom knows what she's doing."

Felix followed her out of the lab and they began to walk down the corridor.

"I just want to go home," he remarked, looking straight ahead as they walked.

"You won't have to wait much longer," Megan replied, but Felix said no more.

* * *

They went back into the office and Felix took a seat by Brenda's desk, checked his watch and then gave a heavy sigh.

"I'm sorry my Dad had to leave," Megan said to him, "He really wanted to be here for you."

"I know," Felix replied, still avoiding eye contact.

Then Brenda walked into the room.

She sat down at her desk and spoke carefully as she began to break some news Dr Todd didn't want to hear:

_"You might prefer Megan to wait outside while I explain your results, Felix."_

He shrugged. The look in his eyes was somewhere between apprehension and impatience as he checked his watch again.

"I feel like I've been here all damned morning. I just want to go home. I want to be _away_ from this place!"

"So you don't need Megan to leave the room?"

He shook his head.

"I already know I need some wiring fixed, I'm not stupid."

Brenda paused, hating to break bad news and trying to summon the words to explain without causing him more distress, but she knew what ever she said would not be received well...

"The scan results indicate much of the wiring that goes directly into your brain is not connecting the way it should. For now the only symptom you have is the tremor in your arm. In time that will worsen, possibly your vision too. The rewire is going to be far more extensive than just concerning the cable that controls movement to your arm. I will need you to come back on Monday morning and have a cybernetic performance tracer fitted, it's a surgical procedure, the main unit has to be close to the electronic part of your brain so you will have to have a small hole drilled through bone to fit the wire. You will have to keep the device fitted for three weeks so I can see exactly why the connections are failing, then we can talk about moving the date for your surgery forward - and hopefully this time we can put a lot of these problems right for you. As you know it's risky procedure and nothing is guaranteed, but that's the best way forward at this stage in your condition."

Felix said nothing.

He blinked away tears as he stared to shake and his face turned pale.

"Nothing will happen yet," Brenda reminded him, "You can go home now, I'm sure once you talk this over with Bess she will be able to put everything in perspective for you. Would you like me to call her?"

Felix shook his head.

"She's working, won't be free until lunchtime..." His voice was barely audible and he was still shaking.

Brenda looked to her daughter.

"Megan, do you think you could make sure Dr Todd gets home okay? And could you stay with him until Bess can be contacted?"

Megan didn't need to be asked twice.

"Of course I will," she said, and as Felix stood up and then took in a shaky breath, she put her arm around him.

"Come and sit outside and take a few minutes to calm down," she said gently, "I'll call you a taxi and make sure you get home okay."

Brenda watched her daughter leave the office with Felix Todd, and she thought how well Megan had handled the situation, and decided she would _definitely_ be great with patients of her own some day...

* * *

Megan's thoughts were far from a career in cybernetic medicine as she led Felix to the elevator and waited for the doors to open.

"Don't worry," she said gently, "Everything's going to be okay."

The doors opened and Felix stepped inside and Megan followed.

"_No its not, I'm going to die,"_ he said tearfully.

The doors closed and they made a brief descent to the ground floor.

Felix walked over to a seating area, where he sat down heavily while Megan phoned for a taxi.

Then she went over to Felix and sat down beside him.

"Please don't be frightened," she said, "You're not going to die, you mustn't think like that."

"I just want to go home," he said tearfully as he stood up.

Megan got up too and walked with him to the exit, where they waited outside for the taxi.

Felix leaned against the wall and blinked back tears as he took in a deep breath and tried to stay calm.

Suddenly he turned to Megan and looked into her eyes.

"Thanks for being there today," he said gratefully, "I thought I could do this on my own – now I feel scared to be alone. It's been such a shock."

Then the taxi pulled up and they walked down the steps together, Felix was slightly unsteady and Megan opened the car door and he got in first and then she got in beside him.

As the car pulled away, she reached over and briefly grasped his hand.

"It will be okay," she promised him, and as he looked at her, Felix was struck by the unexpected realization that he was glad of Megan's company. He guessed it had to be down to the fact that he had just been given bad news, but all he knew for certain was this:

_All of a sudden, the thought of having her close to him didn't seem like such a bad idea after all..._


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Felix reached into his pocket to pay for the taxi. His hand shook and the money spilled to the floor.

"I'll get it," Megan said, and dived down and picked up the notes and loose change, then paid the driver and handed the money back to Felix.

"Thanks..." he muttered as he got out of the taxi.

Megan opened the gate and walked up the path to the front door.

Felix drew his keys from his pocket.

He was still shaking.

"I'll do it," Megan said, and took the keys and unlocked the front door. She gave the door a push but it barely moved.

"You have to nudge it hard –"

"I know."

Megan gave the door a push and it opened.

They went inside and she closed the door.

Felix gave a weary sigh.

"It's never felt so good to be home,"he said quietly, "I _knew _I should have cancelled that appointment!"

"And what good would that have done? You would have got worse and worse and not known why!"

"_I'd rather not have known."_

Felix began to walk towards the front room and Megan followed.

"You sit down, I'll make some coffee. Take some time to calm down and then ring Bess."

Felix sat down on the sofa.

"She's not around until lunchtime," he reminded her.

Megan glanced at the clock on the wall.

"So it looks like you're stuck with me for the next hour," she replied.

"_Come here."_

She looked at Felix and saw intensity burning in his eyes, she had heard it in his voice too and wasn't sure what to make of it.

He held his hand out to her.

"Just come here for a minute, I want to talk to you."

Megan walked across the room and sat down next to Felix. Her emotions were a tangled mix of so much that she couldn't separate it; the need to be with him, the feelings she held inside for him, and the fear she felt for the outcome of his treatment...

As she sat close to him, he took hold of her hand.

"Sorry I turned you away like I did. But you're Gadget's daughter and I'm with Bess and...I guess I just panicked."

His hand was trembling in her grasp, it was shaking so much that she knew it was more than just the tremor, perhaps the shock of the bad news today and maybe something else too... that intense look was burning in his eyes. She had never seen a man look at her that way before, it had certainly never been present in Riley's gaze...

"Things are a bit crazy for me right now," he said quietly, "I can't think straight. But I do know I'm scared, I keep thinking about what I've got to go through and how this could be the end for me."

"But you heard what my Mom said –"

"_She said there are no guarantees."_

Tears burned at his eyes. He managed to smile as he thought of the irony of his situation.

"I haven't been able to make love since the attack," he told her, "I can't turned on, I just can't manage it – and then you came up to me and put your arms around me and...well... I _certainly _got there, but I couldn't do anything about it! So it's not that I don't like you, Megan, I do, and you made me feel what I never thought I'd feel again – but we can't, we mustn't."

Megan stared at him. Everything he had just said had made her heart race.

"I'm the only one who could make you –"

_"That's right..."_

He gave her hand another squeeze and then let go of it.

"But I'm with Bess. And even if I wasn't, I don't think your family would approve of us."

"I'm eighteen, I'm _not_ a child!"

"But all the same, I don't need problems in my life, I have enough already."

She shifted closer to him.

He wished she had not done that, he also wished that she was not looking at him with such longing in her eyes...

Thoughts flashed through his mind of how uncertain the future had become, how serious his condition was, and as she leaned closer, he blinked away tears, giving up the fight because for once his body was responding in the way he needed it to – just like the last time had been close to her.

_"We shouldn't,"_ he said in a low voice.

"But I _want_ to," Megan replied, and she leaned even closer and Felix slid his arms around her, welcomed her embrace as he kissed her roughly and continued to kiss her, deeply, as if he had been starved of love and now desperately hungered for the taste of her.

She ran her fingers through his hair as he continued to keep her locked in an embrace, then when he finally drew back and took in some air, his gaze had darkened as desire for the woman he held in his arms took over from everything else, leaving thoughts of the rest of the world far behind them as he only thought of this moment and of being with Megan.

He got up from the sofa and grabbed her with a shaking hand.

"Wanna take this upstairs or should we stop now?"

Desire still burned in his eyes.

Megan gave his hand a gentle squeeze. He looked nervous, he was still shaking, he was _not_ the gentle romantic kisser she had imagined, he had grabbed at her roughly as he clumsily plunged his tongue into her mouth and crushed her against him as they kissed. But she wanted him, Felix Todd needed her too - and she was _not _going to refuse...

"Let's go upstairs," she said to him, and he kept a tight grip on her hand as he led her from the room.

* * *

Inspector Gadget was at the back of the room as Quimby gave a talk to his officers about the Braydon Estate.

He sat there wishing he had his Gadget Mode reactivated so that he could discreetly whisper _go go gadget voice recorder_, and simply play it back later on.

He had missed half of what the Chief had said, but he already knew the layout of the estate, and was pretty sure evacuating the place in an emergency would _not_ be as difficult as rocket science...

While Quimby continued to speak, Gadget's own thoughts drifted far from police matters:

Seeing Bess Nightingale had stirred up memories and he couldn't replay them with clarity and relive them without the chip.

_He had lied to everyone by claiming the chip was gone._

When he said _gone_, he meant he had stored it away, and could easily slide it back into his external memory slot on the underside of his wrist and activate it once more.

The memories were stored in categories.

All he had to do was select _Bess_ and relive every moment they had ever shared.

The fact that in this timeline they had never been lovers eased his guilt. He wasn't even going it to remember the great sex they had shared, he just wanted to the remember them as _together._ He wanted to recall nights in with Bess, his arm around her on the sofa. He even wanted to remember the dark days after he was sick because of the EMP device and what it had done to him, and the way Bess had cared for him and made him feel so safe and loved.

He wasn't going to access memories of Sanford being Claw, because he had prevented that future now and the dark times were best left alone.

But all the same, the urge to look was still there, simply because he had the power to do so, and it reminded him that once, this world had been very different to the one he lived in now – before the time machine, everything had been different.

He didn't want to dwell on the fact that Brenda would not be his wife and Megan would not exist in his recollections of the other past, because once he deactivated the chip and removed it, the memories would slide away again, and he would be left as he was now, in the changed timeline, with the other past flickering about his heart and mind as mere shadows of ghosts...

Quimby was still addressing his officers.

Gadget glanced at the clock on the wall.

He wanted to do it tonight, but at the same time he wanted to leave it alone, just to be sure that he could leave it, because temptation to slide back into those memories felt like a creeping addiction.

Then he felt a flicker of excitement:

_He felt guilty at the thought of doing it, but if not tonight, some night soon - he was going to access those memories and enjoy every single moment..._

* * *

Felix was breathless and sweating as he rolled on to his back and smiled up at the ceiling.

_"That was great!"_ he exclaimed, then he laughed, adding, "Although with the problems I have, I was right, I knew I wouldn't last long, I knew I wouldn't exactly make the earth move..." And he paused to regain his breath. "What a day! I felt lousy this morning, but now I'm just happy because I actually did it, I _actually_ got it up!"

Then he turned on his side, pulled open a drawer next to the bed and took out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter.

He put the cigarette to his lips and clicked the lighter, drawing in heavily on the burning tobacco and then exhaling slowly.

"That was great!" he said again, "Thank you so much, honey..."

And Megan lay beside him, her skirt up to her waist and her blouse open, feeling to stunned to move, either that or her bruised thighs were not ready to move yet...

She reached down and tugged at her skirt, covering herself up, then pulled her blouse together and began to button it up again.

"Don't do that," he said playfully, "I was enjoying the view!"

"You seem a lot better now." she replied,, waving away a cloud of smoke that was curling in her direction, "And can you _not_ smoke all over me?"

Felix made no attempt to move as he lay there on his back with the lit cigarette balanced between his fingers as his hand shook slightly.

"I used to smoke all the time. Now I only smoke after sex." And he laughed. "After the way my sex life's been lately, I thought I'd given up!"

Then he reached over with his free hand and ran it over her hair.

"I can't believe we did that. It felt so wrong but it was so good..."

She started to smile.

"I know I pushed you a lot to be with me, but I couldn't help the way I feel."

Suddenly his smile faded.

"Megan, um...you do _use_ something, right? I mean, you are on the pill or something like that? _Please_ tell me you're on the pill..."

"Of course I am!"

He gave a relieved sigh.

"_Thank God for that!"_

Megan frowned as she thought about his remark, but then he put out the cigarette and turned on his side, then ran his hand down her body as he looked into her eyes.

"I can't _believe_ this has happened!"

"I feel the same!" she said to him.

Then Felix spoke again:

"I mean, I'm a _lot_ older than you, I'm covered with scars, my body's a mess...and I get this gorgeous young woman lusting after me! I _never_ thought I'd see the day when I was punching above my weight again!"

"That's because I love you," Megan said softly.

Felix blinked. He looked into her eyes and for a moment, seemed briefly confused.

"_Love_ me? Oh yeah...right..._love_...Me too, honey. I think you're special too. _But I am with Bess_."

His words took the glow off their closeness.

"Maybe you could break up with her and –"

"Of course I can't!" he said sharply, "What are you trying to do, wreck what's left of my life? Bess would go nuts if she found out what we've done. And your Dad would probably kill me!"

"But I'm eighteen; I can do what I like. I can see who I choose to see."

"And I can't upset Bess," he replied, "I'm facing major surgery to repair cybernetic wiring that my life depends on, do you _really_ think I need more worries?"

She felt disappointed by his answer, but still clung to the hope that they could have much more as she lay beside him.

"What's the matter?" he asked, "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

She shook her head.

He smiled proudly.

"I don't like to be too gentle. Bess calls me _Rough Rider!_"

And he laughed, but as she looked at him, Megan wondered if he really ought to be bringing his tales of Bess into their time together...

Then Felix leaned closer, breathed cigarette breath all over her, and stole another kiss.

"I'll have to call her soon. Let's take a few more minutes to play around - I think you can get me there again..."

He gave her another kiss.

Megan ran her hands over the scars that covered his body. She blinked away tears as she planted a gentle kiss in the middle of his chest.

"I wish I was with you instead of her...I want to be there for you when you have the surgery, it's going to tear me apart that I can't be with you."

He gave a sigh as she kissed his chest a second time.

"Well your Mom's Dr Bradford, I'm sure you can get her to sneak you in...Just say you and me are friends..." Then he slid his hand to the back of her head and gave a gentle nudge downwards.

"That's lovely...take it down further. All the way...oh God, I _love_ that..."

And then a sound carried up the stairs.

_It was the sound of the front door closing._

Megan jumped up, Felix sat up and pulled the covers up to his waist and ran his fingers through his messed up hair.

"It's Bess! What's she doing home?"

"I don't know!" Megan said in panic.

"Tidy yourself up and say to her I wasn't feeling too good, so I went to bed."

Megan slipped her shoes on.

"What?"

_"Just do it!"_

Felix lay back against the pillow, his shaking was more pronounced now, and she guessed that had to be down to the fact that his nerves were shot to pieces all over again...

Megan glanced down at the carpet.

"What are you doing?" he asked her.

"I can't find my underwear!"

The door opened.

Megan spotted her panties and kicked them under the bed, then turned to Bess and took in a deep breath.

"Hi..." she said nervously.

"Thanks for bringing him home," Bess said, and her eyes were filled with too much worry to notice how nervous and guilty Megan looked.

She went over to Felix and gave him a hug. She was still hugging him as she spoke quietly.

"Brenda called and left a message for me. I know it's not good news, but we'll get through it, honey. Don't be scared."

And Megan stood there feeling hollow as Bess embraced the man she loved.

Felix clung to her for a moment and then let go.

"Thanks for all your help, Megan," he said, and she caught a secret flash of something warm in his eyes as he looked at her.

"I really appreciate _all_ your help, I mean it."

She understood and nodded.

"I'm glad I was here for you," she replied.

Bess turned back to Megan.

"Maybe you could stop over in a couple of days, if Felix needs some more help. I can't take the time off work, and he can get very ill with stress, it can be very debilitating for him and with the wiring problem too –"

"Of course," she replied, "I'm always happy to help."

And she glanced at Felix, who smiled briefly, and then she looked back at Bess.

"I'll see myself out."

She heard Bess thank her again, felt a flicker of guilt mixed with much joy and a sense of fulfillment, and then she left the house, walking away with bruised thighs as she dreamed about a future that she longed to be reality – one where Felix was with her and _not_ Bess Nightingale...

* * *

_The days passed by._

Gadget had another session of therapy with Allison, and talking about the things that had cut so deeply into his life and disturbed his sense of security in so many ways was difficult, but with another therapy session out of the way, he felt sure he was on the road to recovery.

The drive past Steel Temple no longer gave him flashes of panic, and his dreams, if he had any, were not remembered upon waking.

As the weekend arrived and it was the day of Taylor Braydon's barbecue, Gadget's mood was light as he went down stairs in jeans and a t shirt, now he really felt off duty, because today he was leaving the Gadget suit at home...

Brenda was on the phone in the hallway. He paused to brush her hair off her shoulder and gently kiss the side of her neck.

She laughed and spoke into the phone again:

"Your Uncle Gadget won't leave me alone, Penny! Yes, we'll see you there. What time are we leaving?"

That question had been directed to Gadget.

"Eleven?" he suggested.

"Did you hear that? Okay Penny, we'll see you over there... who else is coming?"

Gadget left Brenda to continue her conversation and went into the front room.

The patio doors were open, and his daughter was out there, just standing on the patio as she watched the sprinkler turn.

He went into the garden.

_"Megan?"_

She turned and smiled. That sadness that had been present in her eyes when they had been at the cybernetics center was gone now, it had been gone for a few days and as he finally had a moment alone with her it seemed like a good time to ask if everything was okay now...

"I was wondering if you still needed to have that talk with me," he said, "And before you ask, my cell phone is off today, so work can't get in the way for once."

"Everything's fine now."

"Are you sure?" Gadget asked, "Because you seemed pretty upset when you talked about this other guy you liked...who is he, do I know him?"

She gave him a knowing look.

"You mean, what _is_ his name, so you can check him out on the police computer before I even think about a date with him!"

Gadget laughed.

"I wouldn't do that. So what's going on, are you back with Riley or is there someone else?"

She looked into his eyes, wishing she could tell him everything, but then she recalled how Felix had reacted when she suggested he leave Bess...

"I'm not back with Riley. And there is a guy who I like very much. But he has a girlfriend..."

That remark surprised him.

"He's _with_ someone? I hope it's not one of Riley's friends!"

She shook her head.

"He's nothing like Riley. But I see a lot in him, so much that other people don't see." Her voice softened as she thought of Felix. "He's been sick – well, not exactly sick, he had a..." she paused, deciding to say he had been the victim of a serious assault would have been too much detail... "He was in an accident," she told him, "A very bad accident. And he's had a lot of cybernetic work done."

"At the cybernetics center or the Braydon Hospital?" he wondered.

She knew at once she had said too much.

"Not here in Riverton. But he's a brave man, Dad. He's faced so much and he's _still_ facing problems. But he's so handsome and cute...I don't think other people see him that way, but I do. And he knows I like him."

Gadget was getting the oddest feeling whilst listening to his daughter's description of the guy she was crushing on. He wasn't sure why, but he got the feeling it was quite possible that he _did_ perhaps know him, although he couldn't think who it could be...

"He's not married, is he?"

"No," Megan told him, "He lives with his girlfriend. But they're not close like they used to be. There's very little left between them. I'm absolutely crazy about him. _I think I might be in love_."

"What's his name?" he asked her again.

She shook her head.

"It doesn't matter, he's with someone else and he won't leave her."

"But if they're not close, if they're going to break up any way, it makes sense that he _will_ decide to leave, no one wants to stay in an empty relationship."

"But she looks after him," Megan replied, "He's sick because the cybernetic work he had done wasn't as successful as expected and now he needs more work done and he's very scared. His girlfriend just seems to leave him to it, she's always working, she's hardly ever there for him."

Gadget still got that odd feeling that he knew the guy, but kept his thoughts to himself as he asked another question.

_"You haven't been seeing him, have you?"_

There was a flash of guilt in his daughter's eyes and then it was gone, and Gadget guessed the truthful answer had to be _yes_.

"No," she told him, "I can't, he's with his girlfriend. He won't cheat on her."

"It's not easy being your age," Gadget said, hoping he didn't sound too patronizing, "But you can fall in and out of love all the time when you're in your teens."

"I'm eighteen, not thirteen."

"I know that, Megan. I'm just saying, things can change. I don't know what this guy is like but if he's unhappy with his relationship, its likely to break up. Then when he's free, you've just got to see how things go."

Hope shone in her eyes.

"So you think you'd like it if I got together with him?"

Gadget laughed.

"I'd have to meet him to make up my mind about that. How old is he, same age as Riley?"

She bit her lip.

"A _little_ bit older..."

"How much older?" he wondered.

She was looking into his eyes and couldn't bear to tell any more lies or shade the facts with half truths.

"Actually, he's a _lot_ older."

Gadget laughed.

"It's not Chief Quimby, is it?" he joked, and then he laughed again.

Megan did not laugh, and Gadget's smile faded.

"Seriously, Megan – how old is this guy?"

_She thought about the moment she had tumbled back on to the bed with Felix, and he has said he couldn't believe someone so beautiful would want an old man like him she had asked his age, and he had told her..._

"He's a few years younger than you." She said quietly.

Gadget's eyes widened as he felt a flicker of concern for his daughter.

"How old, Megan?"

"_He's forty two but I'm crazy about him, Dad!"_

He gave a heavy sigh.

"Oh God! Just don't tell your mother! And _don't_ do anything stupid, either. _Don't have sex with him._"

Her face flushed.

_"Dad!"_

"I'm serious! You can't get involved with an older guy who's with a partner, what's go into you, Megan? How long has he been with his girlfriend?"

"_A few years..."_

"How many?" he demanded.

"Four..."

Gadget shook his head.

"I'll bet he feels _really_ flattered to know you like him. Guys don't have totally iron clad self control when it comes to pretty young women falling at their feet! And then he'll tell you to get out of his bed, because he's got _commitments!_"

Megan's face had turned scarlet.

"But what if he loves me too?"

That was a difficult question.

Gadget shrugged.

"All I know for sure is, I don't want to see you get hurt. If he does love you, he'll leave her. If he doesn't, he's a weak man who either can't be faithful, or he can't be true to himself. And _don't_ tell me again that you're not already seeing him, because it's in your eyes – I can see you've got a thing for someone!"

"I don't know what to do for the best," she admitted.

"Do nothing," Gadget told her, "If he cares about you, he'll leave her for you. If not, you'll find someone else - someone who's free to be with you. _Don't_ get tangled up in an affair, Megan – these things never end well."

Then he heard Brenda calling his name.

"Not a word to your mother!" he reminded her, and then he went back into the house.

* * *

By early afternoon, the barbecue in the large garden at the back of the Braydon mansion was going well.

Kramer stood with his arm around his girlfriend Cindi and reflected on how fast so much had changed in the space of a year.

Cindi now lived with him, and helped out with the baby, too – which happened often, because Robo Brenda spent far too much time shopping and gossiping on the phone to her friends, and Robo Gadget was busy at work, taking pride in his new job at the police department.

Kramer had still not told Robo Gadget the truth about Robo Brenda's pregnancy. He still didn't know their baby daughter was the result of his anonymous sperm donation. The only person who had been supposed to know the secret was Sanford Scolex, who had got drunk and told someone else, but thankfully that person had been Inspector Gadget so the secret had gone no further, until he had been lying beside Cindi one night and thinking too deeply about it and shared his secret with her, too...

Cindi noticed the far off look in his eyes as he watched across the garden as Robo Brenda stood there in a shimmering white dress and held her baby daughter in her arms. She was talking to a group of women and she gave a metallic giggle and then carried on talking.

"Why did she have to call the baby _Fifi_?" Kramer exclaimed, "It sounds like the sort of name you'd give to a poodle!"

Cindi smiled.

"But at least you get to see her grow up," she reminded him.

Kramer looked into her eyes and smiled.

"You always know how to make me feel better; you always say the right thing. Thank you for that because my heart was aching."

And he leaned closer and kissed her.

As their kiss ended, he thoughts some more about Robo Brenda and his baby daughter.

"I keep thinking, maybe I should choose the right moment and talk to Robo Gadget, tell him the truth."

"I don't know," Cindi replied, "It's been a year. That's a _long_ time to keep something like that back. Maybe you should just leave the subject alone, they're happy enough."

And as she spoke, there was a thump as Robo Gadget clumsily walked into a table and sent drinks flying.

"Sorry!" he said to alarmed guests who were getting up from their seats and brushing spilled drinks and food from their clothing, "I'm slightly clumsy sometimes!"

Then he went over to the barbecue, and offered to take over from Taylor, who thanked him and then left him to flip burgers.

Kramer was still thinking about it.

"I _will_ talk to him," he told Cindi, "I just have to choose the right moment."

Worry flickered in Cindi's eyes.

"Make sure I'm there when it happens," she said.

"Why?" Kramer asked her.

"I just don't think you should be on your own with him when you explain, in case he misunderstands."

Kramer still had his arm around her, and he briefly gave her an affectionate squeeze as he laughed off her concerns.

"Don't be silly, Cindi! Robo Gadget would never hurt a fly, let alone me!"

Cindi frowned and said no more, keeping her doubts to herself.

Then Taylor Braydon walked past.

He smiled at Kramer and Cindi.

"Having a good time?"

"We certainly are," Kramer replied.

"Great, that's what I like to hear!" Taylor replied brightly, and then he carried on walking in the direction of the fishpond, where he saw Riley Scolex sitting on a low wall while his Dad Sanford was knocking back a bottle of champagne.

* * *

Gadget was talking with Chief Quimby while Brenda and Penny were over the other side of the lawn together while SJ played in the sunshine.

"And as I was saying, Gadget," the Chief continued, "It's so _very_ important when you come back to work that you're ready for every eventuality on that estate – it's becoming a real source of trouble!"

And Gadget forced a smile.

"Thanks for briefing me _all over again_, sir. I feel like I'm not at a barbecue at all, it's like it's not even my time off, I feel like I'm back at work already..."

Quimby missed the point and patted his back.

"Excellent attitude, Gadget!" he said proudly.

"It's a great day for a barbecue!" Taylor announced as he joined them, "The sun is shining, everyone is having a good time – this makes me feel _so_ happy!"

Gadget smiled.

"I think days like this make us all happy, Taylor."

And then Gadget glanced at Riley Scolex, who was sitting on the wall looking off into the gathering, hoping to catch sight of Megan.

Sanford gave his son a pat on the back.

"Cheer up, son. She's got to be here somewhere..."

And he took another sip of champagne and turned to Gadget.

"Where's Megan? We've _got_ to do something to get these two talking again!"

The Chief had walked off with Taylor, heading for a table where Mrs Quimby and Taylor's wife Emma were seated.

Gadget gestured to Sanford to step closer, and as he left his son sitting on the wall, Sanford spoke quietly to his best friend:

"We have to do something, my son is heartbroken! What's happened between him and Megan? I know they used to disagree over cybernetics, but that hardly seems like reason enough to break up..."

"But they have broken up over it several times," Gadget reminded him, "And it could be a little more complicated than that."

Sanford sipped more champagne as he met his gaze with a questioning look.

"There's more to it?"

"Megan's got a thing for this other guy. Don't tell Riley because it could come to nothing anyway, and then he'd feel heart broken over something that's not even happened yet..."

"Who is he?" Sanford said indignantly, "Who is this young lad who thinks he's better than my Riley?"

And he wobbled and Gadget reached out and steadied up his tipsy friend.

"You might want to slow down on the champagne."

"I will," Sanford took another sip from the glass, "When I've finished that bottle over there," he said, indicating to a champagne bottle sitting in an ice bucket beside the fishpond.

Gadget laughed.

"Penny won't be too pleased with you later on!"

"I'll take my chances," he replied, and carried on drinking.

"_Hey, fat boy!" _

Penny was striding across the lawn

"Oops..." Sanford said, "I'd better look sober!"

Gadget smiled again and shook his head as his grown up niece walked up to Sanford with SJ in her arms.

She glared at her husband.

"_We've been here for two hours and you've ate three hot dogs, two burgers, and almost finished a whole bottle of champagne! Why do you do this at parties? I'm not surprised you used to be fat with the way you scoff your food! And I can't carry you to bed, I've got our baby son to take care of! So stop the drinking now, okay?"_

Sanford nodded sheepishly.

"Sorry, darling. I was just enjoying myself..."

Gadget turned towards the fishpond, hiding his amusement as Penny began to scold her husband like he was a naughty school boy. He thought again about the other timeline and remembered how different things could have been if Sanford had taken the wrong path and become a villain named Claw...

"It's just _one_ bottle of champagne!" Sanford was protesting, "And I'm getting tipsy...so I'll go and sit down soon...I'll sit on the grass..."

"And fall asleep!" she said accusingly, "Then I'll have to wake you up when we're ready to leave and my Uncle Gadget will have to put you in the back of the car again!"

"But I always drink at parties..." he protested.

Gadget walked away to give them some privacy, and as Riley got up from the wall where he had been sitting, Gadget spoke his name.

Riley turned and looked at him with sad eyes.

"I don't know what she's said about me, but I haven't done anything to upset her!" he protested, "I love your daughter, Gadget. Breaking up with her was the last thing I ever wanted to do."

He nodded as he listened sympathetically.

"And I really want to get back with her." Riley added hopefully.

"I know you do," Gadget told him, "Just give her time, that's all I can say. And I hope it works out too – but if not, you've got the rest of your life to find the right one."

"But I thought she _was_ the right one," he said sadly.

And then he looked past Gadget, and Gadget turned his head and saw Megan walking towards them. She was deep in conversation with her mother, but as she got closer she looked up, saw Riley and looked away again.

"I've got to talk to her!" Riley said, but Gadget grabbed his arm.

"_Hey, let go!"_

It was only as he heard the tone of his voice that he realized he had grabbed his arm a little too hard; his gadgets were still off but his cybernetic hydraulics were working just fine, and he was holding Riley's arm a little _too_ tightly...

"Don't upset my daughter," Gadget said, "Leave her alone, if she wants to talk to you, she'll let you know."

"You're hurting my arm!"

"Sorry about that. _Just don't upset my daughter_."

Then Gadget let go of him quickly.

Riley glanced at him as he rubbed his arm.

"Okay, I won't upset her; you don't have to get heavy!"

His words made Gadget feel slightly guilty, his over use of his hydraulics had been pure instinct and now he felt bad about it because none of this was Riley's fault.

" I'm sorry," Gadget said again, "I didn't realize I was hurting you. It was an accident."

Riley nodded.

"Apology accepted," he replied quietly, "And tell Megan I said Hi..." And then he walked away across the lawn, resisting the urge to look back at his ex girlfriend as she stood in deep conversation with her mother beneath the shade of a tree.

* * *

Megan had not noticed Riley walking across the lawn to join the others as she continued to talk with her mother.

"I just want to know the answer," she was saying.

"What's this about?" Gadget asked as he walked up to them.

Brenda shook her head.

"She's asking about patient records _again_, Gadget!"

"Your Mom mustn't breach patient confidentiality,"he reminded her.

But the answer wasn't enough for Megan.

"I just want to know one thing, it's just _one_ question!"

Gadget saw deep concern in her eyes, and he thought about all she had said about the cyborg guy who she had such feelings for, the one who was struggling with his robotic enhancements...

"What do you want to know?"

She took in a deep breath.

"_I want to know if Felix Todd is going to die."_

Gadget silently wondered if the man she was in love with had similar complications to Felix, and it wouldn't be hard to find out, because he planned to run a check through the police computer when he went back to work and see if anyone had undergone similar surgery outside of Riverton...

"I want to know," Megan said again, "Please give an answer."

"Maybe you should," Gadget said to his wife, "She took care of him when I got called away."

"And Bess has asked me to look in on him next week to make sure he's coping okay, she said I did a really good job of taking care of him," Megan added.

Brenda's eyes softened as she looked at her daughter.

"This is difficult for all of us because we all know him, Megan. But Felix will die without the repair procedure. He knows that. And he doesn't want to go through with it because he's frightened, but it's his only choice."

"So he won't die?" Megan asked.

Brenda paused.

"Well, no, he won't die. The treatment he's having is going to save his life and hopefully help him to keep much of his replacement functions. But there is a high risk that he will most likely suffer further brain damage. He's likely to have problems for the rest of his life because of the complications with his treatment."

Megan's heart ached.

"Poor Felix..."

Gadget stared at his daughter as he was hit by a crazy thought:

_Was Felix Todd the older man she was so hooked on?_

The detective in him was trying to put the pieces together, but Gadget the detective and Gadget the father were like two men who shared the same body but did not always agree – Gadget did _not_ want to think for a moment that his daughter could be infatuated with Felix, who was older, was in a relationship with Bess and currently seriously ill with cybernetic connection failure...

Gadget dismissed the thought; it _had _to be a coincidence, because Bess had asked her to come over and help Felix, simply because Megan had taken such good care of him. Megan had done that out of kindness, nothing else... it _couldn't_ have been for any other reason...

Brenda was still talking.

"I'm sorry it's not good news," she told her daughter, "And we all know and care about Felix. But cybernetic medicine isn't a miracle cure and some patients will not have success with it, and sadly Felix is one of those who will struggle."

Megan nodded.

"I see..." she said quietly.

Gadget was still wondering about her deep concern over Dr Todd, but then there was a _boom_ and some alarmed shouts from guests at the barbecue.

Brenda and Megan turned to see a huge cloud of smoke billowing skywards.

"What now?" Gadget said wearily, and then he began to run towards the scene of the explosion.

* * *

As he dashed across the lawn and pushed through the crowd, the smoke was clearing.

Kramer was grabbing Robo Gadget and helping him to get up.

Robo Gadget got to his feet and brushed down his scorched clothing.

"Oh no, what's happened?" Robo Brenda called in a shrill voice.

Kramer took off his glasses and wiped smoky grime from the lenses.

"It's okay, he just put too much lighter fuel on the barbecue!" Kramer called back to her.

Robo Gadget wiped soot from his face and smiled as he looked around at the crowd surrounding him.

"I'm not hurt, I'm an android – I'm heat proof!"

Then Taylor ran forward and ripped off his t shirt, holding it front of Robo Gadget's torn pants.

"Allow me to shield your man metal!" he said urgently, "Remember, there are ladies present, they could be overcome at the sight of it!"

And Gadget turned away from the fuss, relieved that no one had got hurt.

Brenda and Megan had crossed the lawn to join him, but as he explained what had happened, Robo Gadget's clumsy accident had taken his mind off other matters, and for a while, he thought no more about his suspicions regarding his daughter and Dr Felix Todd...


	7. Chapter 7

**Warning: Please be aware this chapter contains some dialogue that some readers may consider mildly erotic**

* * *

Chapter 7

It was Sunday morning.

Sanford Scolex woke up with a groan and slowly opened his eyes, letting in the light slowly.

Penny was standing over him. She was up and dressed and he could hear SJ laughing in the garden, his voice drifted up through the open window, then he heard Brain bark playfully, and Riley called to the dog.

"What time is it?" Sanford said weakly.

"Ten thirty in the morning," Penny replied, "How's your hangover, fat boy?"

"Don't, please..." he whispered, and pulled the covers over his head, then gave a sigh as the darkness soothed the ache in his head.

Penny pulled the covers down and he groaned again as the light hit his eyes.

"Water," he said, "And painkillers..._please?_"

Penny shook her head.

"You're unbelievable! Every time we go to a party, you get drunk!"

"And I assure you I'm paying the price this morning," Sanford replied.

"I don't feel sorry for you!" Penny said sharply.

Then there was a black and white blur as the cat jumped on to the bed, and curled up beside him.

Sanford closed his eyes and smiled as he stroked his soft, silky fur.

"Mad Cat feels sorry for me," he told her, "But he can't fetch me water and painkillers..."

And he slyly opened one eye.

Penny was smiling, but she looked away as he caught the look on her face.

"Go to back to sleep fat boy," she said, and walked out of the room.

Ten minutes later she returned, found him sleeping once more and carefully set down two painkillers and a glass of water beside the bed.

She leaned over her husband and smiled again.

_"I know I'm mean to you,"_ she whispered, _"But I do love you..."_

And she gently kissed his cheek, and then crept out of the room again.

As the door closed, Sanford opened his eyes and smiled.

"Did you hear that, Mad Cat?" he said, "She loves me really...I knew that anyway!"

And the cat closed his eyes, purred softly and drifted back to sleep next to his master.

* * *

Inspector Gadget was also in bed, but he was not hungover and had woken late and found Brenda still asleep beside him, and then he had woken her with soft kisses. Those kisses had grown deeper and more passionate and led to lovemaking that was warm and close and eventually breathless.

As Gadget lay back with the crumpled sheets down to his hips, sweat ran down his bare chest as he slowly got his breath back.

_"I will never tire of loving you,"_ he said to his wife.

Brenda sat up and ran her hand down his microchips.

"I feel the same way."

She leaned forward and kissed him fondly. His skin was still damp and the bed smelled of sweat and oil.

Gadget toyed with a lock of her red hair as he looked into her eyes.

"I've got another therapy session tomorrow. I think it's helping."

Brenda smiled.

"We shared the same bed last night and you didn't have any bad dreams."

_"Maybe you should reactivate my Gadget Mode."_

Brenda hesitated.

"I'd really want Allison's opinion on that first."

"How about if I switch it on for work and turn it off when I get home? I can do it by my built in auto command."

"You might forget."

"I won't forget!" Gadget promised her.

Brenda thought about it.

"Okay, I'll see what Allison says after your next session. But even if she's okay with it, I couldn't do it tomorrow. I've got a full day, I'm busy with patients."

Then she frowned.

"And Felix Todd is coming in for some minor surgery. I have to fit him with a tracking device to see how bad the failure rate is within his electronic brain function. He's going to need someone to keep an eye on him for the rest of the day, and Bess will be working...Maybe I'll ask Megan to do it, she's been interested in his case."

A brief thought flashed to mind that he hoped his case was _all_ Megan was interested in, but he said nothing to concern his wife.

"I don't see why not," he replied quietly.

Brenda gave him another kiss.

"I'm so glad you're getting over the Bodysnatcher case. You're so much happier these days."

Gadget smiled.

"Well that must be down to what you said to me this morning..."

He grabbed her hand and pulled her closer as she laughed.

_"Say it again!"_

"Gadget, let me go, I need the bathroom!"

Amusement danced in his eyes as he gripped her harder, taking care not to bruise her as he remembered the power of his hydraulics.

"I want to hear you say it...what did you call me...?"

She laughed again.

"_Love machine!"_

He dragged her closer and gave her another kiss.

"_That's_ what I wanted to hear!"

Then he let her go and she got up.

He was still smiling as she walked off towards the bathroom.

"Can't you go any slower?" he said fondly, "I love watching you walk away from me naked!"

Then as Brenda went into the bathroom, Gadget lay back against soft pillows and let his mind wander.

He didn't want it to wander as far as worrying about Megan and her man troubles, nor did he want to worry about getting another call from Quimby that would force him to cut his leave short yet again. Instead, he thought about the chip:

His gaze wandered across the room to a chest of drawers in the corner. The bottom drawer contained his spare memory cards, and in that box, right at the back, was the chip that held his memories of the other lifetime... He needed to see it again, to remember everything. It felt as if the past was tugging at his heart, reminding him that he shouldn't forget that once, things had been _very_ different to how they were today...

* * *

Later, when Brenda said she and Megan were going out to watch a movie , Gadget used laziness as an excuse not to join them, reminding them that he only had another week off before he was due back at work, and he wanted to spend this Sunday doing absolutely nothing.

He had felt slightly guilty for lying to his family, but the urge to use the chip had become so great that he didn't want to wait another day, he needed to do it as soon as possible...

He waited until Brenda's car left the driveway, and then he went over to the chest of drawers and opened up the bottom drawer and took out a small container.

He put in a code and opened it up, and then took out the memory chip.

Then Gadget sat on his bed, holding the chip as he looked at it, thinking it seemed impossible that something so small could hold the entire memories of another lifetime...

He turned his wrist over, opened up the hidden seal and inserted the chip before lying back against his pillows and closing his eyes.

The message _Corrupt Files_ came up at once.

Gadget skipped over the message and mentally opened up _Index._

The view at the back of his mind looked like a vast library of digital memories, each stored in filed order, each section labelled.

He lingered over the section that said _Claw._

Gadget didn't want to look, but suddenly felt that he ought to,because the past, although changed, still existed here and now he felt compelled to look...

He accessed a file entitled _EMP Weapon._

And he instantly regretted it:

_He was giving a speech at the mayor's party._

_Then he saw Claw standing in the distance, and he smiled as evil shone in his eyes and he activated the device._

_His circuits fried as the world went black._

_Bess and Brenda were leaning over him, forcing open his chest unit._

_Then it faded out and he opened his eyes and felt pain all over his body._

_Brenda was telling him he had suffered massive damage..._

Gadget drew in a sharp breath.

"_Close file!"_

As the image faded away he opened his eyes, feeling shaken that the memory had come through with such clarity it had been like reliving the event all over again.

Then he remembered the time machine had changed everything, and now Sanford was his close friend, a man who would _never_ become Claw...

Gadget closed his eyes again and studied the list of files.

"_Access Bess Nightingale,"_ he said aloud, and then selected a memory and allowed it to play out:

This was a much better experience.

_They were at the beach house, the same one he owned now, but in the other timeline, he had shared this place with Bess, not Brenda..._

"_You look beautiful," he whispered to her and then he ran his hands over her body, caressing smooth skin and cool metal, then he turned her over and pinned her to the bed as he admired her mix of skin and silver that glowed by moonlight._

"_I love you so much, Gadget," she said softly, and then she kissed him and he clung to her as he felt as if the timelines had blurred once again._

_This was what he needed; just a visit to a past that no one else could remember, just to stay a little while and..._

"Close file," he said aloud, and the screen behind his eyes went dark.

Gadget lay there on the bed feeling torn between revisiting the past and taking out the chip and vowing never to use it again.

He opened his eyes and looked down, saw his hand had slid down to the pleasure sensors that ran across the top of his groin plate and gave a sigh.

"_No,"_ he said, _"It's not right..."_

And he got up and turned his wrist over and removed the chip.

Gadget sat on the bed holding the chip that contained the only memories of his other life and thought again about destroying it. He felt it was bad enough he had indulged in fantasies about his shrink, but going back and reliving arousing times with Bess was something else, something that felt seemed too much like a betrayal...

_He wanted to destroy it._ He could easily snap it with a simple flex of his hydraulics – _if_ he wanted to. But Gadget didn't want to, couldn't bear to part with the only memories he held of a timeline that had been erased.

He went back over to the chest of drawers and placed the chip at the back of the container, behind the others, then closed the box and locked it.

Then he left the box on top of the chest and turned away and went back to his bed and lay down, feeling weary. He had expected to feel good, to spend some time indulging in nostalgia but the chip had not made him feel that way.

He was decided now, he would destroy that chip some day - _just not today_...

* * *

Next morning, as Gadget left early for his therapy session with Allison, Brenda went upstairs and knocked lightly on her daughter's bedroom door.

"I'm not asleep!" Megan called out, and Brenda walked in to find her daughter up and dressed and standing by the window as she watched the Gadget Mobile drive away from the house.

As Megan turned and looked at her, Brenda noticed there was something different about her daughter that morning – as if sadness had crept back into her eyes all of a sudden.

"Are you missing Riley?"

Megan shook her head. "I don't really want to talk about him."

"Do you have any plans for today?"

"No."

Brenda hoped that what she was about to say would certainly make her daughter feel a little better, she had been showing such an interest in cybernetics lately, and as she had been so concerned about Dr Todd, her idea seemed to make perfect sense...

"I was wondering if you'd like to come in to work with me today. Felix Todd's having his electronic tracking device fitted and he's going to need someone to take care of him afterwards and stay with him until Bess gets back. You were so good with him last week, and he's someone who finds it hard to accept help from anyone usually, but you get along with him so well..."

Megan looked at her mother in surprise.

"I'd love to be there for him!" she exclaimed, "Bess told me she wanted me to keep an eye on him too, so I guess you can't both be wrong about me!"

And she smiled. It was good to her daughter looking so much happier again.

"Great," Brenda replied, "Be ready to leave in an hour."

As Brenda walked out of the room, Megan's face lit up in a bright smile as she thought of Felix and how thankful she was that she could be there for him at a time when he would need her the most.

* * *

The day had not started well for Felix Todd.

He had got up, showered and dressed and then sat down on his bed again as he clasped at his shaking arm and looked fearfully at Bess.

_"Why don't you quit your job?"_

His tone had sounded accusing.

Bess finished buttoning up her blouse and turned back to him.

"Because I trained for many years to get the job I have today. Because I have patients who are waiting for me to show up, because their _lives_ depend on my expertise. Felix, you worked in cybernetics for many years. You know what it's all about. Today is no big deal, it's a minor operation, you'll be under for around thirty minutes and back home by the afternoon! You've worked on the other side of this – you _know_ how procedures work."

"And I never gave any thought to the ones that didn't work," he replied, "None of us did in the early days. I remember when I was a bright young scientist, a cybernetic pioneer of my generation – they were optimistic times, because we didn't think about the failure rates! So yes, I _do_ know all about it, I know _exactly_ how hard it's going to be for me on every step of this painful journey because I'm _not_ one of the lucky ones, I didn't get through it like Inspector Gadget, my connections are failing and nothing can _ever _put that completely right!"

"And I _still_ have to go to work today," she reminded him, "I'm sorry, honey – but I am in a high position at the Braydon Hospital and I can't turn my back on that."

_"You love your career more than you ever loved me,"_ he said quietly.

Bess stared at him, but he was looking down at the carpet and avoiding eye contact.

"My career will always be here, you may not!" she said sharply, "My job is my life's work, it will always a part of my life, and will _have_ to take priority! You knew that when we first met!"

He looked up at her and blinked back tears.

"I'm not as tough as I pretend to be."

"I know that," Bess replied, "But you're talking like you expect me to give up everything for you!"

"I guess I just don't matter enough for you to make that sacrifice," he replied, "You'll still feel that way after I've had the surgery and I need looking after, what are you going to do, hire a nurse so I'm stuck with a _stranger_ all day long?"

"No," she told him, "I'm going to hire Gadget's daughter Megan Bradford-Brown, because I can see she does a great job of looking after you."

On hearing Megan's name, the resentment that had been burning in his eyes began to fade.

"Oh well, that's different. I mean, I _know_ her. I can live with that..."

And he managed a smile at last.

The look in her eyes softened as Bess cast a look around the room.

"But before I leave for work I _will_ do one thing for you," she said kindly, "Get up, Felix – let me make this bed, I don't want you getting into a messy bed when you come home later on, you need to get some proper rest."

Felix got up. He walked over to the mirror and stood in front of it and anxiously grabbed a comb and ran it through his hair.

"I don't know why I'm so worried about getting this device fitted to my skull – I'm getting worked up over losing a tiny bit of my hair, when I have the surgery I'll lose all of it...and I'll look terrible... I hate my scars...do you hate seeing my scars? I think the ones on my head are the worst."

Bess gave no reply.

Felix turned around and his eyes widened as he dropped the comb and stared in horror at the sight of his girlfriend reaching under the bed and pulling out something that _definitely_ should not have been left there...

Her eyes blazed like fire as she glared at him and held up a pair of black panties.

"_You son of a bitch!"_

He laughed nervously.

"They're mine. I bought you some panties and I thought I might wear them for you...just to fool around... oh no... _don't_ do that..."

Bess screwed up the lace trimmed underwear in her hand and gave it sniff, and then she glared at him again.

"They smell like you _and_ another woman!" she said accusingly, _"What did you do, pull them to one side and screw her, or did you take them off her with your teeth?"_

"Okay - I've never seen them before," he said desperately, "I don't know how they got there, that's the truth!"

She flung the underwear in his face.

"_You dirty, sleazy bastard! You had another woman in here, you cheated on me!"_

Fear flickered in his eyes.

"No, no I swear –"

"_DON'T LIE TO ME!"_

Felix blinked back tears as his voice began to choke up.

"And since when did you want me?" he said accusingly, "Ever since I was attacked, you've been different towards me! When you found out I couldn't make love you just gave up on me, you turn your back in bed, you don't hold me in your arms any more – I know you don't want to be with me, not the way I am. But when I was with her, it was different, she wanted me and I was _more_ than capable of giving her what she needed!"

Then Felix fell silent, shocked by his own admission of guilt.

Bess was staring at him.

"_Who is she?"_

He shook his head.

"It doesn't matter, I'm not seeing her again."

"See her if you want to, I'm out of here. You know how I feel about cheating! You won't get a second chance to do this to me!"

Bess opened a closet, and then she started to hastily pack a suitcase.

A ripple of fear shot through him as he watched her getting ready to walk out of his life.

"Please don't do this to me, not now, its the worst time...you're the best thing that ever happened to me, think about all the fun we used to have...no one else will enjoy giving you the body mods you want, not like I did..."

She shot him an angry glare.

"There are _plenty_ of guys who will enjoy it even more than you!" she snapped, "Better guys, guys who don't screw around behind my back!"

She was still packing her belongings. Then she shut the case, grabbed an overnight bag and began to pack that too.

"_Please stop – I need you!"_

"No," she said, "You don't. And you're right, I have turned my back on you many times – it's because you've changed!"

Hurt registered in his eyes.

"That's _not_ my fault, Bess! I was assaulted; I had part of my brain replaced with electronic function! I've been through hell because the connections are failing - can't you see what that's done to me? Of course I'm not the same person any more!"

Bess zipped up the over night bag and looked back at him sadly.

"Maybe I should have done this a while back," she told him, "I always thought it would come to this one day."

Bess picked up her bags and headed for the door.

"Please don't leave me," he said tearfully, "This is the worst time to do this, I've got the surgery coming up soon – how am I going to cope without you?"

She shrugged.

"_Not my problem. Call your other girlfriend."_

And then she walked out of the room and out of his life, leaving Felix alone as tears ran down his face and he wondered if he still had the strength to carry on living.

* * *

Gadget had been talking with Allison for more than an hour.

As she checked her watch and then smiled, she said something he wasn't expecting to hear:

_"I don't think you need any more therapy, Inspector Gadget."_

He looked at her doubtfully.

"But I thought this would take months to resolve."

She shook her head as she closed her notes and placed them on her desk.

"No, you're a very strong person and you have very few problems with any aspect of your life – you just needed to move on from the past and put what happened in its perspective. You've done that and I don't need to see you again."

Gadget had not expected to react the way he did, because he was feeling as if that was the last thing he wanted to hear.

"I didn't want to see you in the beginning, but I've got used to it and I'm not sure I want this to end yet."

She blinked and as he looked into her eyes, he thought about running his hands over her slender body, just like he had so many times in his fantasy...

"But maybe you're right," he said quickly as he began to feel guilty, "I've got a job to be getting on with. I can have my Gadget Mode reconnected now; I'll need it – I'm back on duty next week."

Allison sat down beside him on the sofa and looked into his eyes.

As she crossed her legs her skirt slid up and his gaze briefly flickered to her thighs, then back to her face once more.

"There's no reason to see me again unless you've got anything else you might like to discuss. I did want to ask you one more thing...regarding how you adapted so well to life as a cyborg. You seemed to adjust so quickly."

"Well that's because I was already with my partner, I met Brenda and started the relationship a year before I underwent cyborg conversion."

"So that would be why you have no difficulties with intimacy..."

Gadget laughed softly and leaned a little closer to her.

_"If I didn't know better, I'd say you were trying to seduce me, Dr Montgomery. And if I wasn't a married man, you might well have succeeded."_

She looked into his eyes and lowered her voice.

"I've heard it's common for cyborgs who have been modified as heavily as you are to prefer relationships with those in the cybernetic medical or scientific field. Some say it gives them a sense of safety, to think that the person they're closest to could fix them if there was a problem. Sometimes that extends into the bedroom in varying degrees. _Do you ever act out the past in a safe non threatening way, Gadget?_"

His face flushed as he laughed again.

"Me and Brenda sometimes role play, nothing heavy – I lay back and she makes me all better."

"Does she take it as far as you want to go?"

Gadget's face flushed a little more as he avoided her gaze for a moment. His pleasure sensors were heating up as he thought about her thighs and the way they slid together as she crossed her legs, he imagined pinning her to the sofa and... NO, he pulled back from that thought and met her gaze once more.

"I might _possibly_ want to turn it up a bit."

"You mean you'd like to act out a scenario where you're in the lab surrounded by real medical equipment while she _works_ on you?"

Gadget wasn't smiling now. He was still blushing and he shifted awkwardly as he looked at her.

_"Maybe..."_

Allison placed her hand on the back of his neck and began to gently stroke the space between his hair and his collar.

The feel of her touch was soft and soothing and he didn't attempt to push her away.

"I've noticed a spark between us," she said quietly, "I couldn't say it while I was treating you, but now, I want to. I'll understand if you turn me down and walk out the door."

"I think you know I'm going to do that. But don't stop yet..."

As he said those words he felt guilty. _But it wasn't every day someone who could get inside his mind took him on a trip into his own fantasy world..._

"You want me to tell you how I'd do it?" she whispered.

Gadget drew in a deep breath and slowly nodded, looking down at the floor as she continued to stroke the back of his neck.

"_I'd have you strip off, and I mean everything – and lie back on the table in the lab. Then I'd hook you up to monitoring equipment just like you were in a real crisis."_

Gadget rested his head against the back of the sofa, and she stopped stroking his neck. He took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, listening to the sound of her voice as he pictured the scenario in his head.

"_I would then most likely take your temperature via an internal device...then I might hook you up to an IV that would go into a painless cable through cybernetic skin, just so it seems real..."_

Her hand was sliding up his thigh.

_Gadget let it slide._

"And then I'd fold down the sheet and tell you I needed to take a _good_ look at your pleasure sensors, just to make sure everything's working the way it should..."

_"Stop."_

Gadget placed his hand over her own, preventing it from sliding any further up his thigh.

He turned his head and looked into her eyes.

"I'm _very _tempted to let you carry on with your description while I take hold of your hand and run it over my sensors. But you might find it a little too hot because I'm pretty close to the edge. _But then I'd have you on your back, and while I'm reaching over load you would be getting there too, I'd let you go first, so I could watch you, and while my hand was down there, I'd be using it to remind you that I am inside you, and you wouldn't care that I'm more than half machine. You'd be helpless in my arms..._"

She drew in a weak breath as desire darkened her eyes.

Gadget gently took hold of her face and held her in his gaze.

"I would _love_ to do that with you. _But it's not going to happen, because I love my wife._ But thanks for sharing the fantasy, honey."

Then Gadget let go of her, kissing her cheek as he got up from the sofa.

He buttoned up his trench coat and straightened his fedora hat.

"Thanks for all your help," he said, "_And_ for the little extra. _It was nice_."

Then Gadget turned away, leaving her feeling desperately frustrated as he walked out of her office with a big smile on his face.

* * *

Felix Todd arrived half an hour late for his appointment.

When he walked into Brenda's office, he saw Megan sitting there and looked away abruptly.

"Sorry I'm late," he said in a shaken voice, "But my girlfriend just decided to walk out on me."

_"Why?"_

Brenda shot her daughter a disapproving glance.

"That's nothing to do with us, Megan!"

And her daughter looked down at the floor.

"Sorry," she said quietly.

"Don't be," Felix replied, "She found another woman's underwear in our bedroom!"

Brenda's eyes widened.

"Oh well, that's your business, Felix... I'm going to set up the lab, I'll be back for you in a minute."

And Brenda quickly left the room.

As soon as she was gone, Felix turned angrily to Megan.

"You left your panties under my bed? The bed I share with my girlfriend? _Did you do that on purpose?_"

Megan blinked back tears.

_"No!"_

"You just didn't think, you didn't think what damage you could cause...well she's gone now, I'm on my own because of you!"

Megan fell silent.

"Stay away from me!" he said sharply, "You're the biggest mistake I've _ever_ made!"

Megan got up, stifled a sob and ran out of the room.

And as Felix looked towards the open door, he realized something that came as quite a shock:  
He wasn't scared because she might tell her parents. He was scared because he realized he had just hurt her feelings and he had just lost her, and of the two women who had been in his life, if he could choose, he would have chosen Megan...

He was still sitting in stunned silence when Brenda came back into the room.

"I'm ready for you now," she said gently, "If you want to come through to the lab I can carry out the procedure. You won't be under for more than thirty minutes."

Felix got up and followed her to the door.

"Don't be scared," she told him, "You won't be asleep very long."

They began to walk towards the lab.

Felix blinked back tears.

"_The way I'm feeling right now,"_ he said, _"I don't care if I never wake up again."_

* * *

Gadget had turned up at the cybernetics center feeling happy to think that his therapy was over and he could finally have his Gadget Mode reactivated.

He knew Brenda was busy that morning, but he was sure she would be able to find the time to fit him in, because it was a simple procedure that wouldn't take more than five minutes...

He had pushed thoughts of his dirty talk with Allison right out of his mind now, it had been fun, but nothing could ever come of it – apart from the fact that her fantasy had fired up his own longings - and he now knew what kind of scenario he would be asking to play out with Brenda next time she had some quiet time in the lab one late evening...

As Gadget walked into the building, he had been about to head for the elevator, when he saw Megan over in the seating area next to the window. She was alone and her face was turned to the glass as she wiped her eyes.

"Megan? What's wrong, honey?" Gadget asked her.

On hearing her father's voice, Megan turned around and looked up at him tearfully.

_"He's hurt my feelings!"_ she said, and gave another sob.

Gadget sat down beside her and wished his Gadget Mode was already active, because he could have done with a third hand to sprout from his hat to give his daughter a handkerchief. Instead he found one in his pocket and handed it to her.

She dabbed at her eyes and then looked at him.

"_He told me I was the worst mistake he ever made! He said it was my fault his girlfriend left him!"_

Gadget drew in a slow, deep breath. It was hard to hold back his anger as he thought about the man who had made his daughter cry.

"Was it down to you? Did you call the house, did you confront her?"

Megan shook her head. She had pulled herself together rather well, she was no longer crying, but heartbreak was clearly still in her eyes as she spoke again.

"I accidentally left my underwear behind. She found it and walked out on him. Now he's got to go through hell with the treatment on his own...he is so mad at me I don't think he'll _ever_ speak to me again!"

Then as hurt and anger filled her voice, she held back on more tears as she decided to tell her father everything.

_"Dad, it's Felix. I was seeing Felix Todd! And now he's made me cry – go and hit him for me!"_

She stifled another sob.

Gadget felt rage building up in him just like it had on the day he had gone over to the lab and punched the scientist for giving her a metallic tattoo...

But then he thought about it, and his anger simmered down:

She was seeing Felix.

Maybe he should have seen that coming; he had wondered if he was the man she was so crazy about and dismissed the idea, but he couldn't dismiss it now, because she had told him everything.

And he _still _didn't want to hit him...

"I think you chased that guy until he couldn't say no," Gadget said to her, "And I warned you, I told you if someone is in a relationship, they will put that relationship first. And you've broken him up from Bess, at a time when he needs her support?"

Confusion clouded her eyes.

"Why aren't you mad at him, Dad? He's broken my heart!"

Gadget kept his voice down as the building began to get busier.

"I'm _not_ hitting a sick man! He does not have much to look forward to given the state of his health, he has cybernetic connection failure and he won't be able to get it properly fixed. He's looking at problems that will last the rest of his life. And now it looks like he'll be on his own with it too because Bess has walked out on him!"

Another tear ran down Megan's cheek.

"_And_ _I love him!" _she said tearfully.

Gadget gave a heavy sigh as he thought about the situation.

"Okay, this is what we'll do – first of all, don't tell your Mom you're seeing him! Let her think you're just friends, and then in time she'll find it easier to accept – that's _if_ he wants to see you again. Where is he now?"

"He's having a procedure."

"So when he's out of the lab and recovering, you can go and talk to him. I want to talk to him too."

Megan fell silent as she nodded, hoping her Dad had meant it when he said he wouldn't hit him, because she hadn't wanted that to happen, not really – it was just that she was upset, and wanted everything to be put right...

When she spoke up again, her voice was quiet.

"Why don't you want me to tell Mom? Penny's married to Sanford and he's a lot older than her."

"That's a different situation," Gadget replied, "Sanford's my best friend – and Penny's _not_ her daughter, but _you_ are. That's why I think your Mom will be worried about you seeing Felix. "

"Are you worried?"

Gadget shrugged.

"I'm not sure. I don't want to make a snap decision on that," he replied, and then as he glanced at the clock on the wall he recalled Brenda had said the procedure Felix would have would not take more than thirty minutes. He knew he wouldn't have to wait long before he could go and see him and get the answers he was seeking...

* * *

They waited for forty minutes, and then took the elevator to the first floor.

Brenda was walking back down the corridor as the elevator opened.

As Gadget and Megan walked up to her, surprise registered in her eyes.

"Gadget!" she exclaimed, "What are you doing here?"

He smiled.

"It was good news from Allison. I'm out of therapy and can have my Gadget Mode switched back on as soon as you've got the time to do it."

"That's great news!"

Brenda gave him a hug then a kiss and as she let go of him, he kept a smile on his face, determined not to worry her with news that Megan was involved with Felix Todd.

"I can turn your Gadget Mode back on in around fifteen minutes," she told him, and then she turned to her daughter.

"Felix is out of surgery and he's recovering. He's in room number three just down the hall."

And she smiled.

Megan was still standing there.

"Am I still looking after him?" she wondered.

"Of course you are, as soon as he woke up he asked for you."

Megan looked down the corridor, towards his room and away from her mother's gaze as her eyes filled with tears.

_"Thanks..."_ she said quietly.

Brenda checked her watch.

"Okay Gadget – I've got a couple of things to do, I'm going to rush through some paperwork and I'll see you in the lab in fifteen minutes."

Gadget kissed her cheek.

"Thanks for fitting me in honey," he said warmly, and then Brenda hurried off up the corridor.

He thought about Felix and how he had upset Megan, then guessed that he must have had a change of heart to be asking for her now. He felt his anger still simmering away beneath the surface, mainly because he was a protective father, but at the same time, he kept an open mind about Felix because until he spoke to him, he couldn't draw any definite conclusions.

Gadget turned towards the corridor and put an arm around Megan's shoulder.

"Come on," he said gently, "Let's go and see Felix together..."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

When they reached the door that led to the room where Felix was resting, he caught a look of hesitation in Megan's eyes.

"I'll go in first," he said to her and then he opened the door and went inside, leaving Megan outside to wait and wonder if her Dad had really meant it when he said he wouldn't hit a sick man...

Gadget closed the door firmly and walked over to the bed where Felix lay recovering from the procedure to fit the tracking device.

As he looked down at him, any trace of anger that still remained rapidly melted away, giving way to compassion instead:

Felix was on his back with the sheets up to his waist; his scarred chest was covered with wires and linked to monitors that surrounded the bed.

The right side of his head had been shaved just above his ear and a heavy silver mesh had been fixed to his scalp, it led to a small pipe that ran into the back of his head and as he opened his eyes, pain registered on his face.

Then he realized Megan's father was standing over him and he took in a weak breath.

"I'm so sorry, _please_ don't get the wrong idea. I know she's told you, I can see it in your eyes..."

Gadget took a seat next to the bed and put a gentle hand on his shoulder. Felix had lost weight since he last saw him, no doubt due to the worry of all he faced, and as he laid his hand on his skin he felt bone beneath it.

"_It's not the way you think...I wasn't using her...it's such a mess..."_ Felix said tearfully.

Gadget drew in a deep breath as he looked down at him.

"There's no need to get upset. I understand you've been seeing my daughter, and I'm not going to make up my mind what I think about that until I know what this is about. She told me Bess left you. Is that a permanent arrangement?"

Felix was still tearful.

"She won't come back. Cheating is the one thing she will never forgive..."

"And do you care about my daughter?"

Felix tried to nod but the pain in his head prevented him from doing so.

"Yes I do..."

Gadget fell silent for a moment as he looked at Felix, and then he made his decision:

"I'm aware that my wife has asked Megan to take care of you while you recover. As you're so close already, that could be a good idea. But I want you to take this slowly, to be sure before you commit to her. I don't want her heart broken. I'm not saying a word to her mother about any of this, because its too soon to worry her over something that might fall apart any way. _So I'm telling you to be good to my daughter. I can live with that_."

His eyes shone with gratitude.

"I won't ever hurt her, Gadget."

The Inspector's eyes hardened for a brief moment.

"If you _did_ hurt her, you'd have _me_ to deal with," he promised him, then he added, "I'll send her in now – I know she wants to see you."

Then Gadget walked out of the room, leaving Felix to shed more tears of relief. He had not expected Gadget to be so understanding, and felt thankful that he was, because as he lay there in pain from the treatment, he was sure he couldn't have handled any more trouble...

* * *

As Gadget left the room he smiled kindly at Megan.

"You'd better get in there, honey – he needs you."

She hesitated.

"Thanks, Dad."

"What for?" Gadget asked her.

"For understanding," Megan replied, and then she went into the room to join Felix at his bedside.

Gadget waited outside the closed door, thinking about the way he had chosen to handle the situation.

He wasn't sure about Megan and Felix being together, but only time would tell if it worked out - or not. He had known right from the start that getting mad over it and trying to stop her from seeing him would only have served to push them closer together. And seeing Felix after the surgery, there was no way he would have got heavy with him about anything; the poor guy looked like he was going through hell...

As he stood in the corridor, he wondered how Megan would cope after Felix had the repair work done. If it went badly, she would face the prospect of caring for a cripple for the rest of her life. It wasn't exactly the kind of future he wanted for his daughter, but then he thought back to his own cyborg conversion and guessed that so much could have gone wrong, he _could_ have wound up like Felix Todd – but luck had been on his side instead.

_It was only luck that separated their outcomes, and Felix had certainly grabbed the short straw..._

His main concern in all of this was that Megan was happy. Gadget knew she had no control over who her heart chose, and if her heart had truly chosen Felix, they would all have to accept that, Brenda too – in time... He had no intention of breaking that kind of news to his wife so early on in the relationship, because he knew she would worry, possibly quarrel with Megan – and when all was said and done, Megan and Felix could last six months and then split, so it seemed to make sense to keep it quiet, just for now...

Then he heard his wife call to him and he turned to see her walking down the corridor towards him.

"Okay Gadget, I can put your Gadget Mode back on if we hurry!" she told him.

Gadget smiled and went up the corridor to join his wife, and they walked towards the lab together.

* * *

Moments later Gadget was relaxing in a reclining chair while Brenda worked on a small, painless incision at his temple and opened it up to reveal control panel.

"Poor Felix," she said, "What a time to break up with Bess."

"She'll probably go back to him," Gadget said as he closed his eyes and she began to use a small screwdriver to open up the panel, "I can't see her leaving him to face everything alone."

"No," Brenda replied, "I remember she told me once, she used to be with a guy who fooled around behind her back. She said if it ever happened again, she'd end it, she wouldn't give a second chance."

Gadget chose his words carefully as Brenda continued to work on him.

"Maybe he'll find someone else. I mean, he's not _that_ bad, is he? Sure, he's not the most charming guy in the world, and I've heard all about the stuff him and Bess used to get up to – but that was him and Bess. He might be different if he found someone else, if he was in a different relationship, had a new start..."

His Gadget Mode came on and the message behind his eyes confirmed it.

"It's a nice thought," Brenda replied," But who's realistically going to want him now? He's had such little confidence since the attack, and he could find the surgery leaves him with even more problems."

She was closing up the panel in his temple.

Gadget opened his eyes.

"Maybe the girl he was seeing behind her back will have him, maybe they're in love."

Brenda gently pushed the cybernetic skin together and watched as it healed seamlessly.

"You're in a romantic mood today," she remarked, and planted a gentle kiss on his temple.

"_There you go. I just turned you on, Inspector Gadget."_

He looked at his wife and smiled as love shone in his eyes.

"And I feel much more together for it!" he exclaimed, getting up from the chair and reaching for his trench coat and hat.

Moments later he was leaving the cybernetics center with his Gadget Mode on, feeling happy to have back his full robotic function once more.

* * *

Megan sat beside Felix and held his hand.

"What did my Dad say to you?"

"He said he's okay with you and me seeing each other – as long as I don't break your heart!"

Megan smiled.

"He just wants me to be happy."

"I'm so glad he feels that way. I didn't know what to think when I woke up and saw him standing over me like that."

"But we mustn't say a word to my Mom," Megan added, "Dad wants to wait for that."

And then she started to smile again.

"So you don't really think I was a mistake?"

Felix blinked back tears.

"It was only Bess who was getting in the way of me taking things further. I am shocked that she left but I do still want to see you, but I'm trying not to think about it too much – I want us to be friends for a while, you know, let things go slowly."

She felt surprised at that remark, as she thought back to the passionate time they had spent together.

"But why?"

"Because you're worth so much more than a quick tumble! And I have a lot to go through soon; you may or may not want to see me again, depending on the outcome. You're eighteen years old; it wouldn't be fair to expect you to spend your life looking after me if the surgery goes wrong."

"_But maybe I want to stay with you no matter what."_

He gave her hand a squeeze.

"Let's take this one day at a time. Right now I just want to get up and get dressed and go home, but I still feel lousy from the anesthesia."

"_You can go home in a couple of hours when it wears off,"_ said Brenda.

As she walked into the room, Megan let go of his hand.

Felix sat up in bed and the effort made his head ache.

"So what's next?" he asked.

"The device I've fitted you with sends out a signal that I can access electronically, I'll be able to follow the pattern of the artificial brainwaves and how they work together with your organic brain. I would recommend rest for the next twenty-four hours until the device settles into place. If you find you get headaches or your mind feels foggy or vague, use an external memory chip until the symptoms subside. It should wear off in a couple of days, and then you can take it out and use the regular system."

"I'll do that." Felix replied.

"Megan, be sure you stay with him," Brenda said, "He shouldn't be alone while he's recovering and in light of the fact that Bess has just left him, it's best if you stay until late and then go back in the morning. Is that okay with you?"

Megan smiled.

"That's fine with me," she replied.

"I'll see you in a little while." Brenda added, looking to Felix, and then she left the room.

Megan turned to her lover and gave his hand another squeeze.

"I'm just sorry she's expecting me to come home tonight!" she said, and Felix managed a smile.

"I really am glad you're here," he told her again, "I mean that from the bottom of my heart."

* * *

Just over two hours later, Felix was ready to leave and Megan got into a taxi with him and they drove away from the cybernetics center.

They were on the highway heading for his address, but then Megan got an idea.

"Why don't you come and spend the day at home with me?" she asked him, "You'd love my place – we live in a beach house, it's so peaceful there..."

His head was aching as he leaned back against the passenger seat and looked at her.

"What about your Dad?"

"He won't mind, he knows about us – and it's not as if you're in the mood to drag me into the bedroom!"

Her choice of words made him smile.

_"When I'm better,"_ he said in a low voice, _"I'll show you how mean and bossy I can be, I'll certainly be dragging you into the bedroom - if you get what I mean..."_

And she smiled, but felt slightly uneasy, deciding she would _definitely _have to have a talk with him about his kinks before much longer...

"Okay..." she replied quietly, and then she leaned forward and told the driver there had been a change of plan, and gave him the address of the beach house.

* * *

When they arrived at their destination, Felix paid the driver and they got out of the taxi.

Then Megan led him through a gate and down a long path as the roll of waves on to shore sounded in the distance.

"You can stay here for the rest of the day and relax," she told him, reaching in her pocket for her house keys as they stood together on the porch.

She unlocked the door and they went inside, and then Megan closed the door again.

She turned back to Felix and he saw such love in her eyes that he felt like he wanted to weep all over again, but instead he embraced her and held back his tears.

"I'm so glad I'm with you," he said to her, "It's been such a difficult day...but you know what, maybe its not such a bad thing that Bess left. _Because I don't think I could have stayed away from you if I tried_."

Megan smiled and took him by the hand and led him into a wide, comfortably furnished front room.

He looked out at the sea view and then turned back to Megan.

"This is a nice place!"

"Taylor Braydon gave it to my Dad when he was recovering after the transplant," she told him.

Felix put his hand to the side of his head, touching the metallic device as pain registered on his face.

"This thing hurts, it feels like its biting into my head!"

"Maybe you should do what my Mom suggested and use an external memory source for now."

"I've been putting that off," Felix replied, "It's weird, but even though I used to work in cybernetics and I know everything about it, I still don't like to have reminders of how much work I've had done. It reminds me that a part of me is missing."

The look in her eyes softened as she gently ran her hand over his hair above the silver device that sat flat against the side of his head, "It's not missing, the cybernetic parts are the _new_ parts of you," she told him, "That's how my Dad sees things, and he gets on fine with his robotics."

"Maybe I should start thinking that way too," he admitted, "If it works for your Dad it's got to be worth a shot..."

Then he pushed up the sleeve of his shirt and turned his wrist over and separated a cybernetic seal.

"Got a chip?"

"You don't have one?"

"I didn't bother to try it out," he told her.

"Well you need to do it now - your main system's been through a lot. Come with me, I know where my Dad keeps a big box of spare chips."

And she took him by the hand again and led him up the hallway, and then up to her parent's bedroom.

Felix looked weary as he sat down on the bed.

"Maybe you should fit the chip and then get some sleep," she suggested.

His eyes widened as he looked at her.

"Oh yeah, _great_ idea – I'm seeing you, Gadget's only just found that out, and he comes home and finds me sleeping in his bed like Goldilocks? I don't think he'd be too impressed by that!"

Megan laughed.

"I'm serious!" he exclaimed.

"Just have a lie down," she told him, "I'll wake you up if Dad comes home. Mom won't be back until tonight, so no one's going to get mad at you."

Felix lay back against soft pillows, and as the sound of the ocean carried in through the window, he gave a sigh.

"I have to admit this does feel pretty good. I could almost forget I feel like my head's just had a hole drilled into it!"

Megan went over to a large chest, spotted the box on top of it and picked it up, then went back over to Felix and sat beside him.

She tried the lid, but the container was locked.

"I wonder why he locked it?" she said aloud, and then she giggled.

"Pass code's six digits. Lets see..."

And she keyed in four numbers and the lid sprung open.

"Easy!" she exclaimed, "I _knew_ he'd use my date of birth!"

"Are you sure I should be doing this?" Felix wondered as he looked at the large array of chips stored in the container.

"He won't miss one," she told him, "If he was here now he'd probably be giving you one of these chips any way – he keeps a lot of spares. He has a huge memory and sometimes when he's working on cases, he has to download the case file on to a chip and remove it and then save it as evidence for later on, like when the case goes to trial...he's got_ tons_ of these things!"

"I don't have a huge memory capacity," Felix replied, "Mine's standard to compensate for what I lost. Is it safe for me to use one of these chips, I mean, maybe I have a certain limit on the amount of gigabytes or something..."

She shook her head.

"You can use any memory chip as long as its blank," she told him, "And these are all blank – he labels his used ones."

Felix reached into the container.

"I'll take one from the back so he doesn't miss it."

And he reached in for the chip at the back of the container, and took it out of the box.

Megan closed the lid and it automatically locked, then she put the box back where she found it.

By the time she returned to his side, Felix was still relaxing on the bed as he looked cautiously at the chip.

"Are you sure I'm compatible with it, because I have a _very_ different cybernetic brain function to your father?"

"It's a blank chip!" she exclaimed, "Just put it in and leave it there, and get some sleep."

And she leaned over him and gave him a gentle kiss.

"You need to rest," she reminded him, "And I won't be far away – I'll be in the front room watching TV. Just go to sleep for a little while, Felix."

He slotted the chip into his wrist and pushed the seal back together.

"Okay," he promised her, "I'll get some sleep."

* * *

As Megan left the room Felix settled back against the pillows, closing his eyes as the sound of the rolling surf hitting sand began to soothe his frayed nerves.

A message blinked up at the back of his mind:

_Memory card installed._

"Whatever!" he complained, wishing the illuminated message would turn off so he could get some rest.

The message was still there.

Then he remembered the electronic function didn't understand _whatever _as a command, and he spoke again.

"Exit!"

Another message flashed up:

_Open file?_

He frowned, wondering why he would be asked to do that with a blank chip. But he was tired and his mind was foggy and all he wanted to do was rest and sleep and get over the procedure he had been through that morning.

He gave a sigh.

"Open file."

Another message appeared:

_Download?_

"Whatever – yeah, _download confirmed_," he murmured, and slipped into a deep sleep, unaware that his electronic memory was about to be hit with such a huge file that not all of it would download and that only some of it, fragmented, would find its way into his mind, as he used the chip that contained all of Gadget's memories of the timeline that no one else could remember...

_As he slept, he felt no pain as the huge content of the chip hit his electronic memory._

He turned his head, caught his breath as if restless in a dream as images flashed into his mind:

There was a man who was evil down to his soul. He had a cybernetic pincer instead of a hand, he was a tall lean, sharp-suited guy whose eyes burned with hatred.

That was Gadget's thoughts:

_He hates me, he wants me dead, he won't rest until he's destroyed me..._

Claw hit Gadget's systems with an EMP device and as the circuits fried, Felix lived his pain.

He lived a memory of waking up in agony as Brenda told him what had happened.

Gadget had felt like giving up.

_But Penny had kept him going..._

He briefly wondered why there was no mention of Megan, it seemed as if she was absent from this world.

Then he was looking through Gadget's eyes again, this time as he made love to Bess.

_When had Bess and Gadget been lovers?_

Felix barely had time to wonder about Bess as he felt the pain of Gadget's loss as he saw through his eyes again and Gadget stood before a mirror and ran his hand over a scar on his bare chest, mourning the loss of his human heart, it had been removed and replaced with titanium...

_When had this happened?_

Felix had never known any of this, it was like he was visiting another world, some mirror universe where everything was dark and terrible and Gadget suffered such deep pain, all because of a man named Claw...

Something blinked at the back of his mind, disturbing his sleep:

_Download incomplete. Memory full. Delete unnecessary files. _

"Exit program!" he said wearily, turning over as his head ached, and sliding back into an uneasy sleep.

* * *

A while later her cell phone rang, and Megan picked it up right away speaking quietly, because she had already checked on Felix, found him sleeping, and didn't want to disturb his rest.

"Megan," said Brenda, "Is Felix okay? Because I've been watching the monitoring device and there was a sudden power surge...I've checked the systems back here and I can't seem to find a cause."

"He's fine," Megan replied, "He's sleeping. Shall I wake him, so you can speak to him?"

"No," Brenda told her, "He needs to rest, I just wanted to check everything was okay. It must have been a glitch with my equipment. See you later, honey."

And she ended the call.

Megan frowned as she put the phone on the table.

"Glitches?" she said aloud, "Don't have too many of those, Mom – he's counting on this equipment to work for him!"

Then Megan got up from the sofa and went along the hall, and quietly opened the bedroom door.

Felix was sleeping soundly, breathing slow and even as the sea rolled to shore beyond the window.

He had his back to her, but she could tell he was resting easily by his slow and steady breathing, and that was enough to reassure her he was fine. She left the room again, and went to the kitchen to make a sandwich.

* * *

_Felix was still on his side as he snapped his eyes open and took in a sharp breath._

The ache in his head was gone but his vision was partly distorted by pixellated sight in his right eye, and through it the light shone too brightly, putting a halo around what remained of his vision. He briefly closed his malfunctioning eye and it came as a great relief that his left, human eye was still working just fine.

Then he turned on his back, bathed in sweat as he took in some heavy breaths and recalled all the chip had set into his mind:

_There was another life._

_Not this one, somehow hidden away, but it had to be real because he had seen it, he had seen fragments of memories of the life of Inspector Gadget – memories he had never known about before..._

_He had never known Gadget and Bess had been lovers._

_And he had never known about a dangerous criminal named Claw._

_But he knew all about him now, and the biggest shock was when he had seen though Gadget's eyes, seen the face of Claw:_

_The evil man with plans to kill Gadget and take over the world, the power-mad bastard with no conscience who enjoyed inflicting pain on Gadget, was Sanford Scolex..._

_Sanford, who was married to Penny's niece, who was the father of their baby son Sanford Junior... he was Riley's Dad, too – everyone knew Sanford, he worked at the police department's security center as Gadget's main control guide... _

_Sanford, who seemed so harmless, Sanford, who got drunk at parties._

_He wasn't the man everyone thought him to be - he was Claw. He was dangerous and had to be stopped, before he killed Gadget and used his ruthless determination to take over Riverton, and then the rest of the world..._

Felix sat up sharply as his heart pounded and sweat ran down his face.

_He knew what had to be done_ – _Claw had to be stopped at any cost..._

* * *

"I need to go home."

His sudden words gave Megan a jolt and she got up from the sofa and stared at Felix, who was leaning against the door frame as he perspired heavily.

"Are you okay?"

She was at his side in a split second, but all he wanted to do was get away from Megan, to keep her far from danger...

"I've...I've got to um... _do _something," he said, blinking as the pixillation distorted his vision once more.

She was still staring at him.

"Oh God no, Felix, - your pupil's blown in your cybernetic eye...I have to call Mom, we need to get you back to the lab!"

She reached for him but he gently pushed her away.

"No, I have to go and do something and its best if I Ieave you behind. I'm going home and then I have something to sort out, it's important. _It matters because we all matter, you matter, especially your Dad, he matters a lot... and he's been through enough...I don't want anyone getting hurt_."

He was speaking in a low voice as he fixed her with an intent gaze and artificial light was visibly glowing within the cybernetic wiring that ran into his right eye.

"Let me come home with you. I think you're confused."

He held up an unsteady hand as he shook his head.

"No no, I can't allow you to do that. I've found something out, it's big, it's terrible and I _have_ to do something about it before anyone gets hurt_. I know what happened to your father, I saw what he did._ _He has to be stopped_."

Megan's eyes grew wider.

"Who? I don't understand..."

"I know about Claw," he said darkly, "I know _everything_ now."

Confusion clouded her eyes.

"Who's Claw?"

He blinked several times, becoming used to the odd distortion in his right eye.

"The man who almost killed your father when he fried his circuits with an EMP device. It's his fault your father had to have the titanium heart."

Megan shook her head.

"My Dad doesn't have a titanium heart, _what _are you talking about?"

"He had to have the transplant after Claw shut him down with the EMP device."

His confusing statements were starting to scare her now.

"No, Felix, my Dad was sick because of the cybernetic fluid problem. He had a bone marrow transplant, it saved his life. Sanford Scolex was his donor."

Felix had stopped blinking now.

"_Sanford Scolex is Claw."_

She stared at him.

"Claw? I've never heard of anyone called Claw! Felix, I think you need to get back to the lab. There's something wrong with you –"

"I can't go back to the lab; I have to go home first and then find Claw."

He turned and walked away, heading for the front door.

"Come back here!" she called, but he left the house and shut the door behind him.

Megan ran to the door and opened it.

"Okay, wait up. I'm on your side, Felix, remember that. Let me call a taxi and we'll go and find Sanford together, he will prove to you _none_ of this is true. Just wait for two minutes, please!"

Felix stood halfway down the path as the metal device on the side of his head reflected sun and the sea breeze ruffled his dark hair. He slowly nodded.

"Thank God!" Megan said breathlessly, then dashed into the front room and put on her shoes, then grabbed the phone and hit her mother's number on speed dial.

The phone rang and rang.

"_Come on!" _she exclaimed.

The phone was still ringing.

She ended the call and tried her Dad's phone.

It rang several times, and then the call was diverted.

There was no time to leave a message because she wanted to keep a close watch on Felix.

She dashed back down the hallway with the phone still in her hand and dragged open the door.

Then she stood on the porch and called his name.

The sea breeze carried her voice off and away across the ocean, the only reply being the roll of surf to sand:

_Felix was gone._

* * *

Megan's parents had not heard either phone call because Gadget had been about to leave the cybernetics center and had bumped into Bess – literally. She had been walking in as he was leaving, and they had collided, and were now deep in what had proved to be a long conversation.

Brenda, who had been on her way out for lunch, had stopped and watched as Gadget spoke so intently to Bess Nightingale, and she had thought of the other timeline and all he had told her, and jealousy had bit deep.

"I'm not going back to him," Bess was saying, "But I just wanted to stop by and check with Dr Bradford that he's doing okay. I mean, I've left him but I still want him to pull through this, obviously..."

"That's understandable," Gadget replied, "And you won't have to worry about him too much – Megan's keeping an eye on him. And I'm planning to see him often too. He needs support and we get along very well."

Bess smiled.

"Maybe I'll come over and see him with you one of these days – not yet, but one day, just to show I don't hold any grudges."

And she smiled.

Brenda walked up to them and looked at Gadget but saw no flicker of guilt in his eyes.

"Bess, did you want to see Felix? I sent him home two hours ago; Megan's taking care of him."

"Oh no, I didn't want to see him. I just wanted to know he came through the procedure okay. That was all. And thanks, Gadget. I probably will come over to the house with you and see him one day."

Then Bess walked away.

Brenda was glaring at Gadget and he couldn't figure out what he had done to deserve such an angry look.

"What?" he asked her.

"Are you sure your sudden need to be close to Felix isn't more to do with Bess?"

Gadget's eyes widened.

"Absolutely not! Why would you say such a thing?"

"Because I remember the day you told me all about the other timeline. And I know it was _months_ before you got rid of that memory chip! Did you keep it because you had so many memories of you and her on it?"

Gadget shook his head.

"Of course not, what's got into you?"

Brenda shrugged, but hurt reflected in her eyes.

"I don't know, I was thinking about Felix and Bess breaking up, and then about how you wanted to spend time with Felix - and suddenly you're making plans with her – what am I supposed to think?"

Gadget was thinking about the chip that she believed was gone and feeling very guilty now...

"Felix is a friend. He's going through a difficult time. His ex girlfriend just told me she had no hard feelings about him and she wished him well for the future. That's all there was to it!"

Doubt still flickered in Brenda's eyes.

"But I can't help thinking about how long you held on to that chip, you had all the memories of the other time line on it, all those memories of her."

"I had all the memories of another lifetime, _my_ lifetime before things changed because of the time machine, can you blame me for wanting to keep it? And it was _nothing _to do with Bess Nightingale!"

Brenda gave a sigh and slowly nodded.

"Okay...I'm sorry. But sometimes I think about how you've had _two_ lifetimes, and it makes me wonder –"

"Don't think about it, "Gadget told her, "This is my reality, here and now. I don't think about the other past any more."

As he said those words he hated to lie to his wife, but he also hated to see such doubt and hurt in her eyes, so he guessed the lie was justified in its own way, even though he wasn't proud of it...

Then Brenda's cell phone rang and she answered it.

"I'll see you tonight," Gadget said, and turned away to walk out of the building.

Then he heard his wife's raised voice.

"_What?"_ she exclaimed, _"When was this, Megan?"_

And Gadget turned back sharply.

Brenda was listening to all her daughter had to say.

"Okay honey," she said, "Stay calm, you can't do anything about this, I'm sending your father over – he's taking the Gadget Mobile, he'll be with you in five minutes."

And she ended the call and looked at Gadget as worry filled her eyes.

"Megan took Felix back to the beach house. She said he fell asleep and when he woke up his pupil was blown and he was talking about crazy stuff that didn't make sense. He walked out of the house and she can't find him. She said something about a chip, that he used one of your blank chips, but I don't see how a blank memory card could possibly do him harm. I hope he hasn't had a bleed because of the internal wire I fitted today..."

Gadget felt a cold sense of dread wash over him.

"_He used one of my chips?"_

"You'll have to ask Megan," she replied, "I'm going back to check on his tracking device – I can't use it to tell where he is but I can observe his brain function. He had some kind of a massive power surge around an hour ago; I thought it was a glitch... _What's the matter?_"

Gadget's face had turned pale.

"What would happen if he downloaded a large file by accident, something too big for his electronic capacity?"

"He doesn't have your kind of storage space. His electronic function would fail in seventy-two hours unless the memory was freed up."

Gadget's voice was hushed as he spoke again.

"What do you mean by fail?"

"His replacement brain system would shut down. He would die... Why are you asking me this? What was on that chip, Gadget?"

He shook his head.

"Oh no," he said in a shocked voice, "I have to find him!"

_"What was on that chip?"_ she demanded again, but Gadget had already turned away and was running out the door, yelling to the Gadget Mobile to turn out the rockets.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

As the rockets burned blue flame, the Gadget Mobile shot along the highway like a speeding bullet.

"Take over!" Gadget said urgently to the car, and then grabbed his cell phone.

He called Megan's number and after a brief pause, it was answered.

"Dad?"

"I'm on my way. Stay where you are, tell me about it when I get there. Has Felix come back?"

"No!"

"Okay, stay calm. I'm sure he hasn't gone far..."

Megan sounded tearful as she spoke again.

"He seemed fine when he went to sleep. Then he woke up and started saying things that didn't make sense..."

"Brenda thinks he might have had a bleed because of the wire he had to have inside his head this morning. But I don't think that's the case..."

"What else could have happened?"

"I'll talk to you in a minute..."

Gadget looked up as the car rounded a corner and hit the road that turned on to the coast, now the water and the beach was speeding by as a blur.

"I'm two minutes away. I'll see you soon, honey."

Gadget ended the call and the car sped onwards.

* * *

Felix had arrived home after stumbling on to the main road and catching a bus.

His head was aching and the pixellated vision in his right eye was irritating, but his thoughts were caught up with all he had learned from the download:

_Sanford Scolex was Claw._

He went upstairs and into his bedroom, pausing to grab hold of the door frame and take in a few breaths.

His hand was shaking and his head still hurt and the problem with his eye was making matters worse_._

"I _have_ to do this!" he muttered, and went over to the closet and opened it, and then reached up to the top shelf, shifted aside a box full of old photographs, and drew out a loaded hand gun.

As he gripped the weapon in both hands he recalled how he only bought it in the remote possibility that one day they might need to defend their home against burglars, it had not been his idea, Bess had talked him into it. The gun had always made him feel uneasy, but now as he held it in his shaking hands, keeping his finger far from the trigger he knew he had no choice, because Claw was dangerous...

He put the gun down on the bed and then reached into the closet and took out a long trench coat. It was a shade darker than Gadget's, and the pockets were perfect for concealing a weapon.

He put on the coat and slipped the gun into his pocket, then he took in a shallow breath as fear made him cold and the shiver that went through his body seemed to shake his bones. He thought about Gadget and guessed the Inspector was used to dealing with danger – he had seen enough evidence from the chip. Those memories were burning away in his mind, to the point that it seemed they were coming alive and burrowing into his brain.

He put his hands to his head and gripped tightly, despite the pain it caused him because of the tracking device.

_"I can't keep this in my head..."_ he whispered, _"There's too much inside me..."_

He wondered how Gadget coped, but then remembered the Inspector was a crime fighting legend, a hero who was afraid of nothing... Everyone knew he had guts, he was an unstoppable force, so unlike any other man...

_Certainly not like himself_...

Felix turned to the mirror and looked at his reflection, he saw his blown pupil and the wiring that shone within it and wondered why the connection that was supposed to save his vision was deteriorating.

He considered his options and decided it was most likely he would need a new wire through his optic nerve, but as long as he could still see out of his left eye, he could carry out what had to be done...

He turned away from the mirror and left the bedroom.

As he walked down the stairs, he wondered how Penny could have lived with Sanford, married him and started a family and not known he was Claw...

_She must have known._

_Maybe she was on his side, too._

_Gadget would be shocked when he found out..._

Felix walked out of the house leaving the door wide open and hurried over to his car, unlocked it, got in and drove away at speed.

* * *

When the Gadget Mobile screeched to a halt outside the beach house, Gadget leapt from the car and ran up to the front door.

Megan had been watching from the window and she opened the door and looked at him with tearful eyes.

"You have to find him!" she said urgently, "He's talking like he's gone crazy!"

Gadget placed his hand on her shoulder and looked into her eyes.

"Okay Megan, tell me exactly what happened – don't leave anything out."

Megan drew in a breath and then began to explain.

"Mom told Felix to use his external memory until the tracking device settled down, but he didn't have a chip. So I let him have a spare one."

Gadget's heart was racing.

"_What_ spare one?"

"Just a blank one out of your box."

Gadget briefly closed his eyes as he felt like the world beneath his feet had just given way.

As he looked at his daughter again she caught the flicker of fear in his eyes.

"What's the matter, what did I say?"

"Which chip, Megan?" he asked her, "Can you remember which one? This is important."

She answered right away.

"_The one at the back of the box, why?"_

Gadget drew in a sharp breath as he realized his theory was right: Felix had downloaded part of his memories of the other timeline – he wouldn't have been able to download all of it, because his electronic brain capacity was not large enough...which meant he had less than three days to live if he couldn't be found...

"What happened after he used the chip?"

"He went to sleep; when he woke up he started talking crazy."

"Crazy? Like how?"

Megan thought about it.

"He said he knew things, he said Sanford was some guy called Claw who had to be stopped –"

"Oh no!" Gadget said, "This is bad, I should have destroyed it..."

"Destroyed what?" she asked.

"The chip. The one I had that held my memories of life before I used the time machine."

Megan shook her head.

"I don't understand, I know you once used a time machine, but I don't see what that has to do with it."

"Everything," Gadget replied, "It's got _everything_ to do with it – the other version of events was very different to this one – and if he's downloaded my old memories, he's going to think Sanford's dangerous...Oh God, I have to get to him before Felix does!"

And he ran back towards the Gadget Mobile.

"_Wait for me!"_

As Gadget got into the car, Megan jumped into the back.

The engine was running.

"I'm ready with the rockets!" said the Gadget Mobile.

"We have to get over to Sanford's place urgently!" he told the car. Then Gadget turned around and looked at his daughter.

"No, this is too dangerous! _Out_..."

Megan stayed in the car, looking at him with defiance in her eyes.

"_I love Felix Todd. I want to help him too."_

Gadget shook his head, knowing he couldn't afford to waste time quarreling about this.

"Okay, but stay in the car! And hang on, I'm powering up the rockets."

Megan grabbed her seat belt and slammed it into place.

Gadget locked his own belt and then and blue flame burst out from the back of the Gadget Mobile and the car took off, tearing down the coastal road and heading for the home of Sanford Scolex.

* * *

Penny had just taken SJ upstairs for a nap.

Sanford was on the sofa with his feet up on the coffee table as he watched TV.

Riley had just left in his sports car.

Felix knew all of this, because he stood at the side of the house with his back against the wall as he drew the gun from his pocket, held it clumsily in his shaking hand, and then gripped it with both hands to steady his aim.

One window was open and the other was closed.

He cautiously looked through the glass.

Penny came back into the room and playfully slapped Sanford's leg.

"Get your feet off the table, fat boy..." she said, and Sanford grudgingly took his feet off the polished oak table.

Penny asked him if he wanted a coffee and he said _yes_.

She walked out of the room.

As he stood with his back to the wall with the gun in his trembling grip, Felix took in a shaken breath as he wished he had not been forced into doing this – but those memories were burning bright in his mind, brighter than the repeated warning that he had to delete files because his electronic brain was on a count down to shut down in just under seventy hours...

He knew what that meant. It didn't give him three days to live. He had perhaps a short time left before most functions ceased, and then he would slide into a coma as the wiring began to cut out, and then he would take a couple of days to die. The process had already begun, first affecting his artificial optic nerve, one of many already failing connections that would deteriorate fast because of his pre-existing connection failure...

He thought of Megan and then Bess.

Then he thought of Megan again, and decided he had made the right choice in the end:

He had barely known her at all, but she had touched his cynical old heart in a way no one else ever had. Maybe he had been in love with her from the day she brought in her father's worn out hinge and asked him to turn it into a metallic tattoo, he wasn't sure – but he _did_ know for certain he was glad he had loved Megan Bradford Brown.

Then he wondered if he would get out of this situation alive. Claw was an evil man, he had seen proof of that – and no doubt had weapons. _Maybe he had an EMP device. If he did, a flick of a switch would kill him a lot faster than his overloaded system would..._

The pixilation in his right eye was blurring into blindness. He blinked, focusing his sight through his unaffected eye. The change in his vision was making him feel even more unsteady, but he knew he had to make a move, because Sanford was alone in the room and all he needed was one clear shot...

Felix stepped away from the wall and swung the gun around, aiming for the window.

He fired twice and as one shot went through the window, another missed and shattered glass.

Felix heard Penny scream, and then he climbed through the open window with the gun held tightly in his hand.

Sanford was face down on the floor where he had dived for cover when the first shot hit the wall.

His dark suit was showered with glass and he took in rapid, frightened breaths as he looked up.

"Don't shoot!" he said, "Oh my God, what have I done to deserve this..._Why_ are you doing this?"

The man in the trench coat stood over him, steadying his shaky aim as he held the gun in both hands.

"Felix, NO!"

He briefly glanced towards the door and saw Penny down on the floor where she had thrown herself as the window was shot out. Her face was pale and she looked terrified.

"I'm sorry," Felix said as Sanford cowered beneath the aim of his weapon, "But you don't know what your husband's like. Or maybe you do...but I _have_ to stop him. _I have to stop him because he's Claw!_"

Penny cautiously placed her hands on the carpet and raised herself up a little. Thoughts of rushing at him and grabbing for the gun were instantly dashed aside as she remembered their baby son was asleep upstairs - and she had no intention of risking him by taking a bullet herself and leaving him defenseless.

"Felix, put the gun down!" she said, "He's not Claw, he was _never_ Claw!"

He kept a steady aim with his good hand as he raised his shaking one to his temple and jabbed at it.

"It's all in here. I saw it; I downloaded your Uncle's chip. _I know the truth!_"

Penny's eyes grew wider.

"He told me he destroyed it! Felix, that was memories from another timeline...he used a time machine, he changed everything!"

"I _never_ became Claw!" Sanford said in a shaken voice.

Felix glared down at him as Gadget's recollections of old battles filled his mind.

"_But I saw you!"_ he yelled, _"I know what you've done!"_

Then Felix flexed his wrist and pulled out the memory chip.

The gun wavered in his grip as he gestured to a lap top on the table.

"Watch this you son of a bitch!" he said bitterly, and slid the card into the slot and accessed the contents.

As the screen jumped to life, Felix stood there with the gun in his hand, looking from Penny to Sanford.

"Nobody moves or it's lights out," he said darkly, "Watch the screen, _both_ of you!"

Penny quietly wept as she saw Sanford in another timeline, so different to the man she knew and loved, a man with hatred in his heart, who set off an EMP device and shattered Gadget's internal wiring.

Sanford blinked and tears ran down his face.

"I didn't do that!" he told him in a hushed voice, "Gadget warned me about the future – _and so_ _I changed my life!_"

"You're lying," Felix said, "I know because I was inside his head – I accidentally downloaded his memories. That's how I know this is real!"

"It's not," Penny said quietly, "It's a set of corrupt files from a timeline that was wiped out! None of this happened in our reality..._please_ put the gun down!"

The screen flickered and the chip failed, a message came up on the screen:

_Unable to process content._

"See?" Penny exclaimed, "They're like ghost memories, they don't actually exist – you can't run the whole chip, the computer will reject it!"

He shook his head.

"No," he said as he kept his weapon trained on Sanford, "I _know_ this is real, it's inside my head, I've got Gadget's memories in here...it feels damned real to me!"

And he tightened his grip on the gun.

* * *

The Gadget Mobile slowed to a halt a short distance from Sanford's house.

Gadget jumped out and Megan hurried after him.

_"Dad, slow down!"_

Gadget turned back.

"I said wait in the car!"

In the distance, sirens were wailing.

"Oh no," Gadget said, "He must have fired shots...someone's called the cops...this could turn into a hostage situation..._Weapons Mode On_."

A light blinked in the corner of his eye to confirm, and a sliver automatic pistol shot into his grip.

"No," Megan said in alarm, "You can't shoot him, Daddy! It's _not_ his fault – he's downloaded your memories...he's already got connection failure, he doesn't know what he's doing!"

"And I'm hoping to end this _without _anyone getting hurt," he told her, "Leave it to me. Wait in the car."

"_No."_

Anger flashed in Gadget's eyes as the wail of sirens drew nearer.

"_Megan, get in the Gadget Mobile!"_

She shook her head.

"I love him, I'm _not_ turning my back on him now!"

There was no more time to lose.

"Stay behind me," he warned her, and then ran off towards Sanford's house, and Megan followed.

As Gadget reached the house, he looked across the long, wide lawn and saw at once that one of the downstairs windows had been shot out.

He wanted to tune in to sounds within the house, but with the approaching sirens in the distance, it would have been impossible to accurately separate the two. He looked at the shady trees that lined the garden and made his decision.

"I'm sneaking into the house. I don't think it will take much to disarm your boyfriend – if he's heading for critical shut down he's going to be in pretty bad shape anyway."

Megan looked into her Dad's eyes.

"_Please don't hurt him."_

"I'll try not to," Gadget replied as he checked his weapon," But my priority is making sure Sanford and his family are safe. If everyone lives, great. If not, as long as I've protected the victims I know I've done my job."

"But it's not his fault, he downloaded _your_ chip! You can't blame Felix for that!"

Gadget knew he was entirely to blame for this situation simply because he had not done as he had promised and disposed of the chip. He also knew Megan was frantic with worry over how her lover would come through this situation.

"_Yes, I know it's my fault," _Gadget said quietly, _"But I also know he's armed and dangerous."_

A squad car had glided to a silent halt, followed by another, and then another, which turned out to be Quimby's car.

"There's been a report of gunshots," Quimby said as he got out of the car and watched as armed officers began to take up position to surround the building a safe distance.

"I'm going in," Gadget said to him, "Try and hold off on the weapons – the gunman's Felix Todd and he's not responsible for his actions. I want you to call a cybernetic paramedic team up here too – I don't believe he's capable of harming any one except possibly through a shaky finger on the trigger, but he's desperately sick. He's dying without medical attention."

Quimby slowly nodded, and then he looked rather confused as he spoke again.

"I'll tell my guys to hold off on the weapons for now. What did you mean, it's not his fault?"

"_It's mine,"_ Gadget admitted, _"I didn't destroy the chip."_

Quimby still looked confused, but only for a moment and then his eyes grew wide.

"_The_ chip?"

Gadget nodded.

"That's the one," he said, "he's got fragments of the other timeline stuck inside his brain and its confused him and overloaded his memory to life threatening capacity."

Megan was beside him and she breathed a relieved sigh.

"Thanks for explaining, Dad."

Gadget knew she wouldn't be feeling so grateful two seconds from now.

He glanced at Quimby and gestured to his daughter.

_"Keep her out of the way, this could get dangerous."_

"What?" Megan exclaimed as Quimby placed a firm grip on her arms, "Let me go, I'm going in there with my Dad!"

"No you're not, honey," Quimby said kindly as he held her back.

"Sorry," Gadget said to his daughter, and then he turned away and ran for cover of the shady trees that lined the way to Sanford's house.

* * *

Gadget dashed down the garden and stood tight against the wall beside the shattered window.

He listened, and then he heard Penny beg Felix to put the gun down.

Felix refused and Sanford was saying he was wrong, that he had _never_ been Claw...

Gadget turned towards the wall as he wondered where everyone was positioned in the house.

"Go go Gadget scanner..." he whispered, and his blue eyes shone a deep red as he saw through the wall and made out shapes moving within the building:

Felix was standing beside a table, a gun in his hand as he grabbed Sanford by the back of his collar and dragged him to his knees.

Penny was across the room, half in the doorway, almost flat to the carpet as she looked up and again begged him not to shoot.

Gadget briefly felt relieved to know that Penny was not giving into the urge to risk her life by trying to disarm the gunman – she was on the floor, sensible girl, she wasn't taking any chances...

He scanned deeper into the house:

SJ was in his cot upstairs. The little boy turned over and carried on sleeping. Gadget briefly smiled, relieved the child was okay and guessing he took after his father – Sanford loved to sleep, and when he did, nothing would wake him, not a fire flood or earthquake – _or even a bullet shattering a downstairs window..._

Brain was in the garden, scratching at the back door.

He scratched at it again, and the cat got the hint and ran through the cat flap into the kitchen.

Gadget continued to watch as the cat padded silently down the hall and then took to the stairs.

In all the time he had scanned the house he had seen no sign of Riley.

"Scanner off," he said in a low voice, and his eyes turned blue once more.

Then he spotted a huge clue that should have spoke volumes as he first looked around – the garage door was open. Sanford's car was parked inside, but Riley's car was gone.

Gadget shook his head as he thought about how he was regarded by the people of this town as such a great detective – he should have spotted that clue right away, but he had almost missed it. He wasn't as great as people believed him to be, it was mostly myth; he was just a guy doing his job to the best of his ability, and sometimes, he _was _great, other times, not so great - _due to the fact that there was a very human individual beneath the Gadget suit, a fact that most folks around Riverton seemed to forget..._

Gadget lowered his weapon and ducked under the window, making for the back door.

As he got there he activated his skeleton key and it shot from his finger and slid silently into the lock, opening the back door.

He stepped inside, keeping a grip on his gun as he quietly made his way towards the hallway.

As he got closer, Penny glanced around.

Gadget put a finger to his lips and she turned back, and put her face to the carpet.

He stepped over her and the bottom of his trench coat brushed against her hair.

She suddenly felt safer; _Uncle Gadget was on the scene at last..._

Felix had his back turned. He was holding the gun in a shaking grip as he kept it aimed at Sanford, who was on his knees while Felix held him by the back of his collar.

"You've seen it now," he said to him, "You've seen what you did as Claw..."

"_Felix, put the gun down. It's not too late to end this peacefully."_

And Felix looked up sharply.

He was unsteady and trembling as light shone out from his blinded right eye as he stared at Gadget.

"I saw what was on that chip! I saw through _your_ eyes, Gadget! _He's Claw!_"

"He's not. He never was. I used the time machine to go back and told Sanford all about the future. He still had a choice and he made the right one. _He never turned to crime_. You can't kill him over a past that didn't happen!"

Felix stepped away from Sanford, backing off towards the door.

Penny scrambled to her feet and bolted up the stairs to be with her son.

Sanford was still on his knees, breathing hard as he recovered from the shock of having a gun shoved against the back of his head.

"He was never Claw," Gadget said again, "This is _not_ your fault, Felix – it's mine. I didn't destroy the chip. I kept it because it was the only memories left of the other timeline. It was a part of my life in another version of events, that's why I didn't destroy it when the time machine brought me back. But everything you've seen, even though it feels real, never existed in this reality. Sanford's a good man, he's married to my niece, and they have a son together! He wouldn't do _any_ of the things you saw on that chip!"

Felix took a step back, stumbling as weakness took over his body and his head ached and his lost vision in his right eye made him feel strange.

_"I saw it happen... it's in my head, there's too much of it in there, I feel like my head's going to split open! "_

As he spoke he was waving the gun around in his shaking hand.

Sanford made a move to get up as Felix backed off towards the door, but Gadget shot him a look and shook his head. Sanford understood; it would be too risky to rush at him with a loaded gun in his hand...

_"I was trying to save everyone..."_ Felix said tearfully, _"I thought he wanted to kill you, Gadget... "_

As tears ran from his eyes, the tears from his right eye were tinged with blood.

He staggered as he backed out into the hallway.

"Give me the gun," Gadget said calmly, "I can sort this out for you. Quimby already knows it was down to the chip, not you... I won't let you go to jail for this...give me the gun, it's over..."

Felix glanced to the back door.

"Don't!" Gadget warned him, "The house is surrounded. If you go out there with a gun in your hand, the cops will shoot!"

Panic was flickering in his left eye as the right one shone blind. He shook his head.

"I have to take my chances..."

He ran for the back door.

A black and white blur leapt from the stairs, landing on his back with a screech and a hiss, as he turned around to fight off the claws that were biting through his coat, the gun clattered to the floor.

Gadget extended his arms, grabbed Felix by the shoulders and dragged him back towards him as Mad Cat leapt off Felix and bounded back up the stairs once more.

As Gadget's hands connected back at the wrists, he kept Felix in a firm grip.

"You can't run," he said, "You're sick and the download made you worse. It's okay, I'll explain everything..."

_"Don't bother..."_ Felix whispered as a message flashed up in his mind that said _High Function Shutdown Imminent._

He dragged in a breath and tried to focus on Gadget, but the world was blurring.

_"I'm dying any way...I can feel it..."_

Suddenly his body was limp in his arms and Felix was unconscious.

Gadget gently laid him down on the hallway carpet, and then grabbed his radio.

"Quimby, it's Gadget – situation is over, the family are all fine. But I need a cybernetic paramedic unit in here ASAP, Felix Todd's just gone into the first stage of shut down."

Sanford got up from the floor.

"Thank you Gadget!" he said in a shaken voice, and then as tears formed in his eyes he drew the chip out of the card reader in the laptop and handed it back to him.

"He made me watch! I saw what I did – what I _could_ have done to you...Oh Gadget, I swear I would never hurt you, my dearest friend, my oldest friend..."

Gadget put his arms around him and hugged him tightly; Sanford wept against his shoulder, then pulled away and kissed his cheek.

"How can you forgive me for the things I did?" Sanford asked tearfully.

Gadget managed a smile.

"Because we changed the future together. You and me changed everything. _There's nothing to forgive, it never happened._"

"Sanford?"

Penny had just walked back into the room.

She saw Felix on the floor and as Sanford put his arm around his wife, Gadget explained everything:

"He's gone into shut down because the download was too much for his damaged mind to take in. He's critical now. And this is _my_ fault..."

As Quimby and some cops came into the house, Gadget turned to the Chief of Police.

"Don't charge Felix for any of this – it was my fault for not destroying the chip. It could have affected anyone who accessed it, but Felix was already sick and it had a devastating effect on him. Where are the paramedics?"

"On the way," he promised.

Then Megan pushed her way through and ran into the hallway.

She fell to her knees as she wept over Felix, who was motionless on the carpet as she grabbed his hand.

"Please don't die," she said tearfully, and Gadget's heart ached as he wished he had destroyed the memory chip a long time ago, before any of this damage could have had the chance to occur...

Quimby had been speaking to Sanford and Penny and explaining everything.

Penny shot Gadget a look and he looked back at her apologetically; she remembered the day when he had promised to destroy that chip, it had been so long ago, and he had done nothing about that promise...

"We won't be pressing charges," she said, and Sanford nodded in agreement.

"I get what you mean about the chip," he said quietly, and then he looked to Felix, who was motionless as Megan clutched at his hand and cried softly.

"I hope he makes it," Sanford added, and then the paramedics came in and set about the difficult task of stabilizing Felix so he could finally be moved.

Gadget turned back to Quimby.

"I'll understand if you want to officially lay the blame on my shoulders sir, I should have destroyed the chip."

Quimby fell silent for a moment.

"I'll let you know my decision later," he replied, and then he walked away, leaving Gadget to wonder if he still had a job to go back to when his leave was over...

* * *

A short while later, while Riley and Penny cleaned up the shattered glass, Sanford was outside on his cell phone, complaining about the price of replacement glazing.

The cops left the scene after a word from the Chief that this situation would be dealt with as an internal matter, and then as his car had driven away, Gadget had gone back into the house and spoken to his niece.

_"Bloody robbers!"_ they heard Sanford exclaim, as he ended a call and tried another number, "I just want a new window - not _every_ window in the house replaced - I don't care what deals they want to sell me, I just want _one_ window replaced..."

Penny turned to her Uncle and he saw disappointment in her eyes.

_"You told me the chip was gone. You told everyone it was gone."_

"I know, it _was_ gone - by that I meant I wasn't carrying it around any more. You have to understand that chip holds memories of another lifetime – _mine_. It's not easy to destroy something like that."

Penny nodded.

"I do understand," she said, and she gave him a hug.

Gadget let go of her and thought about his daughter, who was at the cybernetics center anxiously waiting for news on Felix.

"I'd better go. The paramedics said Felix is in a bad way – he doesn't stand much of chance without surgery. It looks like he's going to have that major rewire a lot sooner than he thinks."

"I hope he makes it," Penny said quietly.

Sadness reflected in Gadgets eyes.

"Me too," he replied, and then he walked back to the Gadget Mobile as he hoped Brenda's expertise would be enough to save the life of Felix Todd, who had never really intended for any of this to happen in the first place...

* * *

Brenda Bradford had been shocked when Felix was brought in as an emergency; a scan had confirmed the worst and also shown damage slowly spreading through the wiring that had already been struggling with connections that ran into damaged tissue.

Her daughter was sitting alone in the waiting area and as she approached her, she remembered Megan knew a lot about cybernetics, and felt sure that would make the explanation for what was about to happen much easier to understand, if not to accept...

"Felix has suffered a critical shut down because of the memory volume overload. We have to take out his memory card in the main system and isolate all corrupt files and remove them. In light of what happened after the download, Quimby suggested to me that it might be a good idea to also wipe out events of the last twenty four hours, so we'll remove the tracking device and he'll have no memory of having it installed or what happened afterwards. I think it's for the best, because I don't think he would be able to comfortably live with the memory of going crazy with a gun. He needs that memory removed."

Megan's eyes widened.

"Don't let him forget anything else!"

"Like what?" Brenda wondered, and Megan gave a sob.

"_I love him, Mom! Don't let him forget that, please!_ Just wipe out everything after we got back to the house, before he fell asleep. Start the memory clean from eleven am."

"Okay..." Brenda was looking intently at her daughter.

"I know you're fond of him, I have figured that out. Does he know how you feel?"

She avoided her gaze for a moment.

"I _think_ so..."

Brenda gave a heavy sigh.

"I don't know if this is a crush or if you love the guy, but if you're the woman he cheated on Bess with, that's an awful thing to do. But I can't stop you seeing him. Talk to me more often, Megan – _don't_ shut me out."

_"I didn't want you to worry."_

She turned and saw Gadget standing beside her.

Brenda shook her head.

"Oh Gadget, why do you feel you have to protect me? I know she's grown up, I _know_ she's got her own life!"

"Sorry," he said quietly, "And I'm sorry about the chip, too. I just couldn't destroy it, because it was part of my other life. Years of memories."

"Where is it now?" Brenda asked him.

Gadget drew the chip from his pocket.

"I've got it right here. I _am_ going to destroy it, I will...I'm just not sure _when._..that's the problem."

Brenda plucked the chip from his fingertips, dropped it to the floor and stepped on it. There was a sharp _crack_ and as she took her shoe off the broken chip, she looked into Gadget's eyes.

"_Problem solved."_

Gadget slowly nodded.

"It certainly is," he said as he looked down at the shattered memory card.

Then Brenda swiftly changed the subject; there was much she wanted to say about her daughter's sudden involvement with Felix and the fact that Gadget had lied about the chip, but there was no time because Felix was being prepared for surgery.

"Felix is very, very weak," she said to her daughter, "And in order to remove his main memory card and clean it and replace it, and to fix some of the failing wiring, it does mean open brain surgery. And the problem with his eye goes beyond simply changing the wire that runs to the optic nerve. When the wire cut out, it shorted. That caused damage to the organic part of the eye and we can't save it."

She saw confusion in her daughter's expression as she thought about it.

"But you can give him new connections – rebuild part of the back of the eye."

"No," Brenda said gently, "We can't risk running more connections into damaged tissue. He can't have a replacement; it's too dangerous given his pre-existing damage and the rapid failure rate. We have to remove his eye. There's no other way to deal with the problem."

Megan blinked back tears and Brenda wanted to hug her, but Gadget had already put his arm around her shoulder.

"He'll make it," he promised her, and then he looked at Brenda.

"Megan needs him to make it."

"I'll do all I can for him," she promised, briefly touching her daughter's arm and giving it a gentle squeeze, "I didn't know how you felt about him, and he's certainly not the kind of guy I would have expected you to get involved with. But its happened and I'm very sorry that you have to watch him suffer like this. I can't make any promises, Megan. But I _will_ do all I can to save him."

Megan nodded.

"I know you will, Mom," she said tearfully.

Brenda left Megan in the waiting area where she was still being comforted by Gadget, and then she went back down the corridor towards the lab, where she knew she faced a hard battle to save the life of a man who was already on the brink of death.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The wait was long and difficult as Megan sat with her father and the hours passed by with no word on Felix.

As shadows fell and the dusk settled into evening, she turned from the darkening world beyond the window and looked at Gadget.

"What ever happens," she said quietly, "I'm standing by him."

Gadget paused, unsure how to respond to Megan's decision. She had spoken with determination, believing in a way that only youthful optimism could inspire, to think that everything would work out fine no matter how high the odds were against it because love would be enough.

_Gadget knew better._

He knew from his own experience that major cybernetic treatment was _not_ a miracle cure no matter how well the procedure went, it was painful and involved the loss of body parts and the acceptance of robotics in its place. Becoming a cyborg was a tough choice no matter what the outcome, and Felix had suffered many setbacks already, to such an extent that now the procedures he endured were to save his life instead of improve it.

To Gadget, it seemed cruel that the man who had once been a leading scientist in the field of cybernetics was now suffering because his own science was not enough to repair the damage to his body.

"Are you sure you can handle this?" Gadget asked his daughter.

Megan looked into his eyes and as she smiled she reminded him of her mother.

"It happened to you, and you got through it. _And_ you and Mom stayed together."

"But that was different, Megan – I'd already been dating your Mom for a year, you were already born – we had a strong relationship. And I didn't have complications like Felix. I was one of the lucky ones."

"I'm not afraid I can't cope," Megan replied, "I can do this. I'm not afraid of anything."

As he heard her say those words, Gadget felt a mix of pride and concern – he was glad his daughter had grown up to be such a strong woman, but she was still young and had no realistic idea of how difficult life could turn out to be if Felix had a bad outcome from the surgery – which seemed likely, given his weakened state...

He looked at the clock on the wall as he wondered how much longer they would have to wait for news, and Megan fell silent once more as she continued to wait, refusing to give up hope.

* * *

It was almost seven thirty in the evening when Brenda finally walked back to the waiting area.

Explaining the outcome of any serious procedure to a loved one was not an easy task, but the fact that she had to break news to her own daughter now made the task even harder.

As she turned the corner she saw Gadget was still there and she breathed a relieved sigh; this would be so much easier for Megan to hear, because she had both her parents there for her...

They both got up from their seats as Brenda walked over to join them.

"How is he?" Megan asked anxiously, "Please Mom, just tell me he made it..."

Gadget looked at his wife, saw a flicker of sadness in her eyes and felt his heart sink, because he knew whatever she was about to say would not be the good news she was hoping to hear. He put his arm around Megan's shoulder.

"Did he make it?" he asked his wife.

"He's out of surgery," Brenda said, and Megan blinked back tears.

"So he's going to be okay?"

"It's not all good news," Brenda added, "He's been through major invasive surgery to fix his memory and replace the failing connections, and as you know we had no choice but to remove his damaged eye. He is very weak and he's yet to regain consciousness. I can't even say for certain that he will survive. All you can do is be there for him and hope for the best. If he makes it through the next twenty four hours there's every chance he will live, but as I said, he _is_ very weak."

Megan looked as if she was about to cry, but instead she held it back and as Gadget saw strength in her eyes, he was reminded instantly of his niece Penny. He guessed it had been fortunate that Megan had grown up around strong people, because she was coping with this far better than he had expected.

"I'll go and sit with him," she said.

Brenda looked intently at her daughter.

"I have to ask you this – I know you haven't been close to him for very long, are you sure about this? Because he's very weak and he's going to need your support, probably for a very long time."

Megan nodded.

"I am sure, and so is he."

"Okay," Brenda said, casting a nervous glance to Gadget, "I'll take you in to see him."

"Shall I come with you?" he asked his daughter.

"No, I'm fine," she said quietly, "Thanks for waiting with me Dad – but I'm okay now."

And then she walked off down the corridor with her mother.

Gadget checked his watch and decided it was time to go home, Brenda would keep a close eye on Megan, and she seemed determined to be there for Felix, even if she wasn't prepared for the reality of the situation yet... He felt sure between him and Brenda, with their own shared experience of life changing cybernetic treatment, they would be able to get their daughter through the worst of watching Felix struggle to recover.

He turned away and started to walk towards the elevator.

Just before he reached it, the doors slid open and Gadget found himself wishing he had taken the stairs instead. Quimby had just stepped out and he was fixing him with a rather angry glare...

"Sir, I know I should have destroyed the chip," Gadget began, "But it was difficult, it contained all my memories of the other timeline, a big chunk of my life in another time and place."

"Where is it now?" the Chief demanded.

"Brenda crushed it."

"Good for her!" Quimby replied, "And before you say another word, I don't blame you for what happened to Felix. It was a set of circumstances that came together in an unfortunate way – it couldn't have been predicted. But it _could_ have been prevented if _you_ had disposed of that chip a long time ago!"

Gadget looked at him apologetically.

"I know Chief, but as you said, no one could have predicted the outcome."

Quimby no longer looked furious but his anger was still simmering somewhere behind his eyes as he held back from yelling at Gadget.

"I realize you had an emotional attachment to the chip. I also know you've had a difficult time since the Bodysnatcher case and I've taken all of that into consideration. But you acted irresponsibly and I can't let that go. _You're suspended from duty for two months, effective as of today_."

Gadget stared at him.

"But sir, I can't be off work for two months! You know how much my job means to me!"

Quimby lowered his voice.

"That's quite enough, Gadget! Because of your actions, Sanford got a window shot out and had a crazy gunman scaring the hell out of him and your niece!"

"And no one could have predicted that would happen!" Gadget said sharply, "I had _no_ idea something so terrible would come of me holding on to that chip! And Felix Todd _isn't_ a crazy gunman, he was sick and the chip had a devastating effect on him! Brenda's wiped the event from his electronic memory so he doesn't have suffer the distress of recalling it!"

Gadget was aware he had just spoken sharply to his superior, and as he fell silent he considered offering an apology, but instead cancelled the thought.

_"That's all I have to say,"_ he added.

He braced himself for Quimby to grow red in the face and yell at him, but instead the Chief took in a breath, kept his composure and replied quietly.

"I'm aware that Felix Todd isn't a crazy gunman. I know all the facts, Inspector Gadget. Like you said, it wasn't his fault. But _someone _had to take the blame. That's why you're suspended from duty for two months. _And that is the end of the matter_."

Gadget got it now; suddenly two months off work seemed a small price to pay for knowing Felix wouldn't be facing any charges.

He wondered if he ought to thank him, but then Quimby spoke up again.

"That's all I came here to say. I'll see you back at work in eight weeks."

Then the Chief walked away, leaving Gadget standing alone in the corridor.

* * *

After standing around and thinking about all the Chief had said, Gadget took a slow walk in the direction of Felix Todd's room. He had watched Brenda lead his daughter into a room at the end of the hall and while he was sure nothing he could see would shock him, he wasn't so sure about Megan...

When he reached the room the door was open and he stood there in silence and watched as Megan talked softly to Felix, who was unresponsive as he lay there surrounded by monitors. His head was bandaged and he was breathing unaided, but the sheer volume of equipment, the lines and tubes that ran into his body, was a clear indication that he was very weak indeed.

Felix continued to breathe slowly as Megan spoke to him.

"I know you love me," she said, "And I love you too, I wont leave you..."

She gently touched his cheek with her fingertips, just below the dressing that covered the place where his right eye used to be.

"And it doesn't matter about your eye, I still think you're handsome," she added softly.

_"How is he?"_

She turned her head as Gadget walked into the room.

"Felix hasn't woken up yet," Megan replied, "But I'll be here for him when he does."

"He may not recover for a couple of days," he reminded her, "He's been through a lot. You could be in for a long wait."

_"I know."_

Megan's gaze was fixed on her lover once more as she watched over him.

"Are you sure you don't want to come home for a while?"

"No, Mom said the next two days are critical. I need to be here for him."

Gadget stood there for a moment with his hands in the pockets of his trench coat as he thought about what she had just said. Then he went over to the other side of the room, picked up a chair and placed it next to Megan, and then sat down beside her.

"Then I guess we're both in for a long wait," he said to his daughter, "You can't do this alone, honey. I'll stay too."

Gratitude shone in her eyes.

"Thanks Dad, it means a lot," Megan replied.

* * *

It was early morning and the sun was rising as Riley Scolex walked into the garden and handed his father a cup of coffee.

Then he stood beside him and glanced at the newly replaced window.

"It looks as if nothing ever happened," he remarked.

There was a haunted look in Sanford's eyes as he turned to his son.

"But it did," he said in a hushed voice, "I don't blame Felix – I know him, I know it was the effect of the chip. But I saw some of what was on that chip. I saw the life I could have had, how terrible it would have been...I saw my hatred and Gadgets pain..."

He slowly shook his head.

"I'm almost grateful I was forced to watch it!"

"Why?" Riley wondered.

Sanford smiled.

"_Because I know beyond any shadow of a doubt that I made the right choice when I took the chance to turn my life around," he said warmly, "I was right and so was Gadget – thanks to the time machine, and the fact that I actually listened to a warning, I never became Claw."_

Riley laughed softly.

"You never know – some of it could have been fun," he joked, "I might have liked being the son of a super villain."

Sanford's smile faded as he recalled the other timeline's events, how he had never had the chance to bring up his son, how Riley had lived his life trapped in a cyborg body he could not accept that pushed him to the edge, made him suicidal... Riley knew none of this, and never would...

"You would have hated it," he promised him, "Believe me, everything is _so_ much better this time around."

And then he put his arm around his son's shoulder and they went back inside the house.

* * *

Gadget had spent an uncomfortable night in the room where Felix Todd was recovering from surgery.

Megan had eventually fallen asleep on a couch across the other side of the room, and Gadget had taken off his trench coat and draped it over her. Megan had grabbed at it and snuggled up to it, pulling it close just like she used to grab at the bottom of his coat and cling to it when she was a young child and didn't want Daddy to leave her and go to work.

Gadget had watched her sleeping and wondered how his daughter would cope looking after Felix. Then he remembered she was strong and knew what she wanted to do. In many ways she was a lot like Penny for that – no one could change her mind once she had reached a decision.

He sat up in the chair, feeling slightly stiff.

The morning light was creeping into the room with a gentle glow and he looked down at the man in the bed who was heavily bandaged; he had been through one hell of a fight to survive...

"You're not exactly my _first _choice of future son in-law," he said in a low voice, "You're bad tempered, rude, impatient, to a certain extent, sleazy - and the thought of your sexual kinks makes me slightly nervous_. But she could have done worse. Please hold on, I don't want to watch her crying at your funeral._"

Felix took in a deep breath and turned his head slightly, and Gadget sincerely hoped he hadn't just heard all those insults, because he hadn't intended for him to wake up to a statement like that...

Then the door opened and Brenda walked in.

She looked tired and as she went over to the equipment that surrounded the bed and checked it, Gadget spoke quietly to her.

"You should have gone home hours ago."

"How can I do that when the rest of my family are still here?" she replied, "I can't go home yet. I grabbed a few hours sleep at the office. I can't turn my back on Felix, I promised Megan I'd do my best for him."

"Sometimes even the best isn't enough." Gadget reminded her, "He does look very weak."

"He is," Brenda replied as she prepared to take a blood sample from her patients arm, "But his vitals are holding very well. He seems a lot stronger than he was yesterday."

Gadget glanced over at Megan, who was still sleeping, then looked back at his wife.

"How are things likely to be long term for him, if he makes it?"

"I don't know," she replied, "We got him through the surgery and he's still here this morning, he seems stronger...but we wont know about brain damage until he wakes up."

Then she slid the needle into his arm and began to draw off some blood.

Felix turned his head sharply as pain registered on his face and he drew in a slow breath.

"Don't you _know_ how to be gentle?" he complained weakly, _"You've got the beside manner of a bitch from hell!"_

His undamaged eye was still closed and Brenda smiled as she glanced at Gadget, then she drew the needle out of her patients arm.

"It's nice to have you back with us, Dr Todd," she replied, "And I'm glad to hear you're getting back to your usual charming self..."

Gadget smiled too as he shook his head. Felix was not quite aware of his surroundings yet, and Gadget was sure this had to be the only time in his life he had _ever_ let someone get away with speaking to his wife like that...

Felix still had his eye shut. He turned his head and frowned.

"I hurt all over..."

"I'm doing something about that," Brenda said, turning up his pain relief.

Felix slowly opened his left eye, and then blinked several times.

"_I can't see properly..."_ Panic had crept into his voice.

"You collapsed because of the connection failure," Brenda told him, explaining all he needed to know and omitting the part about the chip, "We had to operate and replace the wiring inside your head. Your eye was badly damaged by the wire inside the optic nerve cutting out, and we had no choice but to remove the eye. Because of the surrounding damaged tissue, we can't replace it. But you're recovering now. You're going to live."

Felix took in a sharp breath and gave a weak sob.

_"Felix?"_

Megan had woken up and heard his voice, and she got up and went over to his bedside, taking hold of his hand as she wiped a tear from his face.

"Shh," she said gently,"Its okay, you're going to fine, I'm right here for you, I love you so much..."

Felix tightened his grip on Megan's hand.

Gadget turned to Brenda and blinked away tears. He never would have expected to be so moved by anything that involved Felix Todd, but he had also never expected him to come into their lives in such an unexpected way...

"I guess you kept your promise to Megan," Gadget said quietly to Brenda, "It looks like he's going to make it."

And then he put his arms around her and held her tightly, thankful that for once, life had not turned out as badly as he feared.

* * *

_The days passed by._

Felix got stronger and Megan was happier.

Brenda was finally able to take a couple of days off work and catch up on all the sleep she had missed.

And four days into his suspension from duty, Gadget was missing his job.

_Three weeks later, he felt as if he was going crazy, because what had started as two weeks off work had now turned into a very long wait stretching ahead until he could return to the job he loved._

He made a point of calling Sanford at the control center every day, and each time he got the same reply to his question:

_There was nothing going on. No crime to report. It was quiet out there as usual._..

Felix began to make a rapid recovery.

Brenda put it down to the fact that he had simply been lucky, but Gadget felt sure love had a great deal to do with it.

He was starting to change his mind about Felix Todd – he was seeing him in a completely new light. The level of pain he had gone through was something Gadget could relate to, and he had come to the conclusion that despite his many faults, there was no denying the man was a fighter. He had guts, and Gadget deeply admired the way he had fought back from the brink and done so with such determination.

He had thought about the future and looked at Megan as she sat beside him talking and laughing and decided there definitely was more to Felix than he had first thought – under the surface, the guy wasn't so bad after all, he had just need to get to know him better.

Gadget had made his decision while visiting Felix with Megan, and while he left them to talk, he thought some more about his idea as he made his way to Brenda's office.

When he got there she smiled as she looked up from her paperwork.

"I'm starting to like you being off work," she remarked, "I get to see so much more of you."

"I need to ask you something," Gadget told her, and then he closed the door behind him so they could talk privately.

* * *

After a brief conversation, Gadget and Brenda walked into the room where Felix had spent almost a month recovering.

Megan was sitting next to his bed and Felix was holding her hand as they talked quietly.

As he looked up and saw Gadget and Brenda, he stopped talking to Megan and smiled.

"I was just saying how I cant wait to get out of here and back to a normal life – what ever _normal_ means for me now..."

"Actually we wanted to talk to you about that." Gadget told him, and as he looked at Felix, he felt moved by his determination all over again:

Megan's boyfriend looked like he had survived a war zone. His dark hair was growing back but barely covered the deep scars that were etched into his head. His empty eye socket was covered by a black silken patch and while he had regained some weight, he still looked much leaner than he used to be, and older too. All he had been through had taken its toll on his body and his face and he no longer looked like the man who had given Gadget a copy of his own features so long ago.

"Me and Brenda have been thinking," Gadget said, "You'll want to take it easy for a while after you get out of here. _And we wondered if you might like to come and stay with us_."

Felix looked at him in surprise.

"You're inviting _me_ to move in with you and Brenda?"

"And me," Megan said warmly as she smiled at her parents.

Then Felix smiled too.

"Thanks," he replied, "I'll take you up on that offer."

Megan got up and hugged them both.

"Thank you so much!" she exclaimed, and then she went back to his bedside and gave Felix a hug too.

Brenda and Gadget left them to talk and walked out of the room.

As they walked down the corridor, Brenda glanced at her husband.

"I hope we've done the right thing! I mean, they haven't been together very long..."

But Gadget had made up his mind about Felix, he had learned long ago that his intuition, when it came to getting the measure of a person, was rarely wrong.

"He's a nice guy," he replied.

Brenda looked at him doubtfully.

"He's short tempered, impatient, snappy, rude...and a _lot _of other things too!"

"True," Gadget replied, "But he's a nice guy when you scratch the surface...maybe you have to scratch a _lot_, but it _is_ there."

Then he looked at his wife and smiled, adding, "Okay – you have to scratch deep..._really _deep!"

And Brenda laughed.

* * *

A few days later, after spending a month at the cybernetics center, Felix went home and with Megan's help, packed up some belongings and then drove back to the beach house.

Gadget helped him move some boxes into the house, which he left in the spare room, and after Felix told him to be careful with the heaviest box, he explained that he planned to use this room as a place to work on his designs. Gadget briefly considered that it would also make a great work room, but kept that thought to himself.

Felix had unpacked the rest of his belongings and put them in Megan's room, then announced that he needed to spend some time in the spare room because he was planning to work on a special design. Gadget wasn't surprised that he had felt the need to shut himself away for a while after all he had been through, but the thought that he was working again was an encouraging one...

With Felix gone off to work on a design, and Megan busy arranging her boyfriends stuff in her bedroom, Gadget felt very much in the way.

Brenda was at work and he had no job to go to and the only option that seemed like a good one was to take a drive along the coast in the Gadget Mobile.

As the car sped up the quiet stretch of road, the sea breeze blew in his hair and Gadget concluded the only thing less than perfect in his life now was the fact that he was not yet back at work...

"At least you got to keep _me_ while you're suspended!" the car remarked.

Gadget looked down at the computerized face on the screen and smiled.

"If I'd lost you for two months I would have been _really_ unhappy!" he exclaimed.

"We'll always be partners, " promised the Gadget Mobile, and they sped along the coastline enjoying the freedom of an empty road and the miles stretching on ahead.

* * *

Felix had been working in the spare room for more than an hour.

Megan had gone down the hall and walked in, and found him sat at a desk working hard on a sketch.

She walked over to him and put her arm around him.

"What's this, a new design?"

He folded the paper over and turned his head, much further than he used to, allowing for the lack of vision in his blinded right eye.

"I didn't want to show you just yet," he said, and folded the paper again, smoothing down each crease so it was folded up tight, and then he put it in the top pocket of his shirt.

"Just _show_ me!"

She reached out but he put his hand over his pocket protectively.

"Not yet. I want it to be a surprise."

His remark had sparked a great deal of curiosity.

"What's going on, Felix?" she asked him.

He hesitated, and then began to reluctantly explain.

"Well I've gone through a lot and I know it's about time I did something to improve my appearance –"

Her eyes grew wider as a worrying though came to mind.

"No, _please_ tell me you're not having any more surgery! You wont have it done at the cybernetics center, Mom will refuse. She said you can't take any more internal wiring because of the damaged tissue!"

"Its nothing like that!"

As Megan looked at him, deep concern filled her eyes.

"Please tell me what this is about, I'm getting scared you might do something crazy like risk going through a robotic eye implant!"

Felix shook his head.

"No, there's no chance I'll ever have any more wiring or robotic mods. This is something else. I was just making a sketch of the sort of thing I wanted, but it's not a robotic mod."

And he hesitated, suddenly feeling rather shy about explaining the truth.

"_It's a cosmetic modification."_

Megan's hand moved like a flash, diving into his pocket and pulling out the folded paper before he had chance to stop her. One good outcome of the surgery had been that the tremor in his right arm was now gone, but that did nothing to improve his speed – Megan had the paper now, and as she unfolded it he hoped she would like what she saw...

Megan stared at the sketch.

"I like it," Felix said, "I think it would look good. It might even make me a little more attractive, I want it engraved...I thought perhaps I'd have it engraved with cogs like your Dad's internal workings...I love that kind of design, its very old school cybernetics... I'm an old school kind of guy."

And he laughed nervously.

Megan was still looking silently at the design.

"And this is...a..._permanent _fixture?"

"That's right. It's no big deal, I just need a few holes drilled and –"

_"It's permanent."_

He looked at her nervously.

"So what?"

Megan frowned.

"I'm not sure..."

He snatched the paper back, folded it and put it back in his pocket.

"There's a cybernetic cosmetic mods parlor down town. They do these kind of designs. What the hell, why wait? I'll go over there today."

"Today?" she exclaimed, "You've just got out of the hospital, you've just healed...and you want to do _this_ to yourself?"

Felix gave a sigh and got up from his chair.

"I never said you had to like it, this is about me and how I feel when I look in the mirror!"

"Its a bit extreme," she said quietly.

Felix shrugged.

"Whatever. I'm leaving now if you want to come and watch, otherwise stay here and I'll show you the finished result when I get back."

"No," she told him, "I'll come with you."

Felix snatched up his car keys.

He paused in front of the mirror, ran his hand over hair that now covered his scars, and opened up a couple of buttons on his light blue shirt.

Then he smiled as he looked into the mirror.

"When I get home later," he told her, "I'll actually like my reflection!"

"_I'm not so sure I will," _she said doubtfully, and then she followed him out of the door.

* * *

The police department seemed different without Gadget around, even just the fact that he was not on duty on the streets of Riverton somehow left a gap that everyone who knew him felt sharply, and Sanford felt it very deeply because the control center was quiet and the two way channel was closed, leaving him very much alone.

Robo Gadget had also heard about Gadgets suspension and guessed the Chief must have had his reasons, but no one told him much of what went on, and when the Chief called him into his office, it was always to ask for coffee.

_But he loved his job._

While it was true that he didn't carry a weapon and he spent his day filing reports away, it was still a police job, and that made him feel proud.

When the day came to a close and it was time to go home, Robo Gadget left the office and walked away from the police department, crossed the street, paused to buy some flowers for Robo Brenda, then caught a bus home.

When he got off the bus he walked the short distance to the street where he lived, then went past two houses, and pushed open the gate that led to his front door.

He went up the path with the flowers in his hand and unlocked the front door.

As he stepped inside and paused to hang up his coat, Kramer stepped out into the hallway.

"Hi!" Robo Gadget said brightly, smiling as he flashed teeth that were slightly too big, "I got these flowers for Robo Brenda – where is she?"

"Her and Cindi took Fifi to the park," Kramer replied.

And then he blinked nervously behind his glasses as he looked intently at the android.

Robo Gadget looked back at him.

"What are you looking at me like that for?" he asked.

Kramer drew in a nervous breath. He had been thinking for weeks about explaining the truth about Fifi, and each time he had lost his nerve, deciding Robo Brenda and Robo Gadget were happy and there was no reason to risk spoiling that now they were a family – but it had been nagging at his conscience that the water damaged robot did not grasp the fact that it was impossible for him to biologically be any child's father... He needed to know the truth, and as they were alone and had time to talk, now seemed like a good time to finally admit the truth...

"Would you come through to the kitchen? _I need to talk to you_."

Kramer's voice had trembled as he spoke, but Robo Gadget simply shrugged and followed him down the hallway and into the kitchen.

Kramer gestured to the table and Robo Gadget sat down, leaving the flowers on the table.

Kramer remained standing as he anxiously looked into the eyes of the android.

"What's this about?" Robo Gadget asked.

Kramer drew in a slow breath.

"How would you feel if you found out Robo Brenda's baby wasn't yours?"

Robo Gadget frowned.

"But she _is_ mine, she's mine because we fell in love and when people fall in love they sometimes make a baby."

Kramer gave a sigh.

"No, no – that's _not_ what I mean! Androids cant make human babies. Robo Brenda carried her baby because she had donor eggs and a semi organic womb implanted. _And donor sperm._.."

Robo Gadgets head tilted slightly as a mechanical sound came from his neck.

_"What?"_

"How would you feel if you found out another man was the baby's real father, I mean, _just_ biologically?"

The android's eyes glittered darkly.

"_I'd kill him!"_

Kramer knew he was trembling, and fear sounded in his voice as he spoke again.

"But androids can't be parents without human egg and or sperm donation. You can't just make a baby because you love someone, Robo Gadget. There's a physical act involved that only humans can do to conceive a child."

Robo Gadget stared at him.

_"Are you saying she loves another man?"_

Dark rage started to burn at the back of his eyes and it reminded Kramer of the day long ago when Robo Gadget had set fire to half of Riverton...

"No, you've got it wrong! She _doesn't_ know who helped her! She wanted a baby and she needed a donor. She got a donor and had the baby, that's the facts!"

Now the look in Robo Gadget's eyes was scaring him.

"_Who is he?"_ the android fumed.

"No one you have to be concerned about," Kramer told him, "No one who would _ever _want to hurt you or break you and her up!"

Robo Gadget stood up, and the chair scraped back loudly.

He stepped away from the table and walked over to Kramer, shoving his face close up to him as he glared angrily.

Kramer stepped back, hit the wall and blinked frightened eyes as he suddenly saw so much darkness that still resided within Robo Gadget, so much more than he had ever thought possible...

"_Who is he?"_ Robo Gadget said in a low voice.

Kramer drew in a shaky breath.

"_It was me! It was me, okay? I didn't even touch her, she doesn't even know it was me I just –"_

His words were choked off as Robo Gadget grabbed him by the throat and slammed him hard against the wall.

As Kramer gasped for air, murderous rage blazed in the android's eyes.

_"I'll kill you!"_ he yelled, and locked him in a crushing grip, dragged him away from the wall and hurled him across the room.

Kramer hit the wall and then the floor.

Robo Gadget's eyes were blazing as he went over to him, dragged him up from where he lay bleeding, and then slammed him against the wall again.

"_She's MINE!"_ he raged as he shook the unconscious scientist, _"You'll never touch her again! Robo Brenda is MINE!"_

* * *

Megan had felt nervous after taking a drive with Felix across town, a drive that had led to a rather run down old building that bore a sign that read _Cosmetic Cybernetics_.

She had walked in beside him, waited while he spoke to a woman who had more cybernetic adornments on her face and hands than Bess Nightingale, and after he showed her his sketch and she had showed him some designs, he had made his choice.

Then Megan had sat down and waited while he went through a doorway lightly shielded with a beaded curtain and lay back on a reclining chair that looked like it had started out as something from a dentist's office.

Felix had turned his head and smiled at Megan, but then as the needle had gone into his face to numb the pain, he had tensed sharply.

_"Son of a bitch!"_ he yelled, and then gave a gasp as the needle went in a second time.

Megan continued to watch, suddenly feeling concerned for his welfare rather than what the finished result would look like. She guessed as it was his body it was his choice, but to her it didn't seem like much of an improvement, no matter _how_ sexy he thought it would look when it was finished...

As the woman picked up a small power drill and squeezed the trigger, the whine cut through the room.

_Then the drill bit began to bore into his face, and Felix gripped the arm rests of the chair tightly, while Megan looked away because she couldn't bear to watch any more..._

* * *

As Gadget drove up the coast, the radio crackled into life on the internal wire inside his head.

"Gadget?" said Sanford, "Can you hear me?"

And he smiled as he continued to cruise along the road.

"Sure I can hear you, Sanford. It's a beautiful day, I'm taking a relaxing drive along the coastal road and I bet you wish you wasn't stuck in that control room –"

"Gadget, I've got a message from Quimby, its urgent. _Consider yourself back on duty as of now._ There's been a domestic disturbance –"

"What? Are you telling me Quimby's officers can't handle a simple dispute? I _knew_ he shouldn't have put me off duty!"

"_No, it's serious,"_ Sanford replied_, "An android has gone berserk. It's Robo Gadget. A neighbor called it in, said there was blood up the walls and Dr Kramer was on the floor. Robo Gadgets still in there. You're the only one who can handle this situation. Please hurry, we don't know if Kramer's alive or dead."_

Gadget drew in a shocked breath as he thought of how Quimby and Mayor Wilson had once questioned the wisdom of reactivating the formerly dangerous android.

"I'm on my way!" he said, and the Gadget Mobile screeched to a halt, took a sharp turn for the highway and opened up the rockets, then sped like a blur towards the direction of the crime scene.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Megan had not looked back through the beaded curtain as Felix had the work done to his face.

As she thought about how it would be permanent, she wasn't sure why she felt so emotional about it – after all, he had lost an eye and that was about as permanent as it got, any other changes that happened to his looks after that seemed minor by comparison...

Finally she heard him speak.

"I like that," he was saying, "Keep the mirror where it is...I just want to look again..."

And she still looked down at the floor, unsure how she would feel when he left the room and rejoined her.

She thought some more about it:

_All cybernetic work was permanent. _

_It didn't matter if it was internal or external - it was for life..._

Felix pushed the curtain aside and walked over to her.

"What do you think?" he asked.

Megan was still sitting there, looking down at the floor.

Felix stood over her and said her name again.

"What's the matter?" he asked her, "Are you scared to look at me? It's not _that_ bad!"

Then he laughed nervously.

"I _hope_ it looks okay..."

Megan slowly raised her head.

Felix stood before her with a sparkle in his remaining eye as he smiled. His blind right eye had been covered with a silver eye patch that had been bolted to his face. It was much smaller than she had imagined it would be, and the design etched into the silver, of intricate cogs and wheels, was beautiful.

"It's sealed in at the drilling points with living metal," Felix told her, "So instant healing and no pain when the anesthesia wears off – and it's there for the rest of my life. I think it looks better than that stupid black eye patch – and it's _got_ to be an improvement on an empty eye socket."

Megan stood up and smiled as the silver patch caught the light.

"You look kind of... _different_," she said, and then she laughed, "I don't know...you look...tough? I like it, I do..."

Felix put his arms around her and gently kissed her, and then he stepped back again and grabbed her by the hand and turned for the door.

"Lets get out of here; I know a great little coffee shop just around the corner..."

"Okay," Megan said, feeling surprised that he didn't want to go home and rest considering what he had just been through, "Sounds like it might be fun..."

As they left the cybernetic cosmetic parlor, Felix smiled.

"It will be," he promised her, "I've got a surprise for you!"

And then he said no more as he led her up the street, leaving her guessing at what the surprise could be...

* * *

The Gadget Mobile screeched to a halt sharply outside the home of Dr Kramer.

Squad cars were already on the scene and as Gadget jumped from the car, Quimby hurried over to him.

"Thanks for getting here so fast –"

"There's no time to thank me, Chief – what's the situation?"

"Kramer's in the kitchen. Looks like Robo Gadget really laid into him. We can't get near the house, that androids gone crazy." And Quimby lowered his voice as he added, _"Use whatever force is necessary. Destroy him if you have to. I just want Kramer out of there."_

Gadget slowly nodded, again recalling the controversy that had surrounded his reactivation. There had long been a question mark hanging over whether the android was a threat to the public or not, and Kramer had insisted from the start that Robo Gadget was not a threat – and now it seemed Kramer's insistence that the android was harmless had possibly been down to loyalty to his own creation – from where he stood, he could see into the kitchen and Kramer was motionless on the floor, and there was blood on the wall that had smeared and partly run.

"Weapons mode on," Gadget ordered, and as the message lit up at the back of his vision to confirm the command had been carried out, Gadget flexed his wrist, and his right arm switched into a high powered laser gun.

He checked the weapon was primed and then glanced at the Chief.

"Robo Gadget was reactivated into a standard android body," he said, "This weapon can easily cut a hole through that. He's not bullet proof, either. I'll try to bring him in alive."

"Good luck," Quimby replied in a hushed voice, and then Gadget ran down the lawn, and into the open garage, making for a doorway that led into the house.

* * *

Far across the other side of town, Megan was in a coffee shop and sitting at a table by the window.

Felix sat down too, placing one cup in front of her and the other in front of him as he smiled proudly.

"Did you see that? I used both hands. I don't get the shakes any more."

Megan smiled across the small table as she studied his face.

"I'm getting used to the silver eye patch. And I _do_ like it."

"I hoped you would," Felix replied, "And before I forget, I've got something for you."

He reached into his pocket, drew something out and slid it across the table. It hit the side of her coffee cup and as she grabbed the cup,to stop it from spilling, she slid her drink to one side, thinking how clumsy he was.

"Watch what you throw at me, Felix, you almost spilled my coffee!"

"I thought as you and me have something special, that I should do everything differently. I've never done this before but I want to give it a try," he said.

She looked down at the object that had hit her coffee cup:

It was a small, velvet covered box.

"What's inside?" she asked him.

"Just let me know if you want to do this or not, because I got a good deal, the guy said if I need to bring it back in forty eight hours he'll give me a full refund..."

Megan opened the box. Inside was a diamond ring, it sparked as it caught the light and she watched it shimmer for a moment, and then looked up at Felix.

"This is an engagement ring?"

Felix didn't even crack a smile.

"_Just_ an engagement ring. I don't want move too fast, I've never done this before. So don't go choosing a wedding dress just yet. But I do want to do..." he paused, feeling awkward, "I want to do _this_, the engagement thing. So, do you want it, or not?"

Megan's eyes shone with joy.

"Of _course_ I want it!"

She stood up and leaned across the table and kissed him, then sat down again, sliding the box to the middle of the table as she held out her hand.

"I'm waiting," she said.

"For what?"

"For you to put it on my finger."

Felix shrugged.

"You'd better do it yourself just in case it's too tight...I'd hate to be the one who gets it stuck there..."

Megan drew the ring out of the box. She smiled as she slid it on to her finger, it fitted perfectly and she watched as the light shone like white fire in the heart of the stone.

"I can't wait to tell everyone we're engaged!" she said excitedly.

Felix smiled too, and then brushed off her comment.

_"It's no big deal, it's just a ring..."_

* * *

Gadget kept his weapon low as it glowed, the firepower within ready to activate.

The internal door that led through to the house was unlocked and he pushed the handle slowly and carefully, the hinges were oiled and the door opened silently.

He paused, listening for sounds, but heard nothing. Then there was a thump and a crash followed by another thump. It was coming from upstairs, and he guessed the android was smashing up the house because he had nothing left to inflict his rage on.

He took a step into the kitchen.

Kramer was on his side, on the floor and he looked bloody and bruised. Then his hand twitched and he took in a weak breath.

He was in a bad way but Gadget was relieved, because at least he knew the scientist was still alive...

The sound of Robo Gadget thumping and crashing around upstairs was not letting up. Gadget looked towards the ceiling, listened as Robo Gadget smashed up the house and made a decision:

_It was a short walk out of here._

_Robo Gadget was still upstairs and didn't know he had company._

_And even though it would be risky moving a person as badly injured as Kramer, he had little choice in the matter, because when he did confront Robo Gadget the situation would no doubt turn ugly, posing more risk to Dr Kramer..._

The scientist's breathing was weak as Gadget lifted him into his arms. Then he quickly made for the door, leaving the same way he came in.

He focused only on the garage door, ignoring the sound of Robo Gadget's heavy footsteps as he crashed about upstairs.

Gadget broke into a run, dashing from the open garage and across the lawn, as he ran Kramer gave a groan, which Gadget took to be a good sign because at least he was still alive. He ran on until he cleared the house, and then he reached the squad cars and a waiting ambulance and carefully laid Kramer on the path. The scientist was badly beaten and bleeding heavily, but Gadget felt sure he would make it, because he was groaning and struggling to move now.

"Where's Robo Gadget?" the Chief asked.

"He's still upstairs. Sounds like he's smashing the place up. I took a chance and got Kramer out while I could, now I'm going after Robo Gadget."

And with his trench coat stained with Kramer's blood, Gadget turned back in the direction of the house, ran across the lawn and went back into the garage.

* * *

Robo Gadget had looked around at the mess he had made upstairs and felt thankful Robo Brenda and Cindi had not been home to see it. He was also glad that Fifi had gone to the park with them, because he didn't ever want to do anything to frighten those he loved...

The bedrooms were a mess – shredded pillows and torn bedding, smashed furniture and broken mirrors.

Rage still burned in his mechanical heart as the thoughts that swirled about his water-damaged brain increased his anger:

_Fifi was Kramer's._

_The man who had built him had gone behind his back with Robo Brenda and got her pregnant._

He didn't care what Kramer's explanation had meant, all he knew was Kramer had kept a big secret for a long time – there had to be a reason – _and that reason had to be, the two of them had been seeing each other without his knowledge..._

He was too angry to cry over what he had done. He felt sure he would cry eventually, but not yet, because he was still filled with rage.

Robo Gadget assumed Kramer was dead, because he had hurt him a lot and humans had weak bodies that broke so very easily...

Then he tilted his head as his eyes glittered darkly and he listened, hearing the sound of a creaking floorboard somewhere beyond the bedroom. He stood there in the smashed up room and wondered who it could be ... if the girls had come home and found Kramer, they would have screamed and panicked and called the cops, but although he had heard sirens in the distance a short while ago, he could see no cop cars form the bedroom window...

He listened intently, still wondering who was there.

_It couldn't be Kramer, not after what he had done to him..._

Robo Gadget took in a slow breath and set his dark gaze on the closed door.

He was ready for a fight.

"_Robo Gadget? I know you're in there. I've got a laser weapon primed – don't make me use it."_

He recognized the voice of Inspector Gadget at once.

A flicker of panic ran through him as he thought about Gadget, who was in weapons mode...

It was starting to hit him now, and hit him hard, the realization of what he had done – and Robo Gadget quickly concluded there was only one way out of this mess:

_He would have to fight, he would have to take on Riverton's greatest cyborg cop..._

There was a crash as Gadget kicked open the door.

His right hand had switched into a high powered laser weapon that was already powered up. The sight on the gun glowed red as he raised his arm, positioning the heavy weapon as its beam settled on its target, the light hitting Robo Gadget's chest as the Inspector stood poised to fire.

"Don't make me do it," Gadget said, "I don't want to destroy you. Tell me what this is about."

Robo Gadget looked into his eyes. He drew in a deep breath before he spoke, Gadget saw such darkness within the android that it was clear he had always been a threat, but that threat had simmered unseen beneath the surface...someone had pushed the button and this was the result; he had been like a time bomb since the day he was reactivated...

_"He told me!"_ Robo Gadget said bitterly, _"I know the truth about him and Robo Brenda and their kid! Its not mine!"_

And Gadget breathed a heavy sigh as he shook his head.

"This could have been avoided long ago if the facts had been explained to you –"

He paused as a sudden thought hit him, and then he voiced it aloud:

"He _was_ afraid to tell you! I think he was afraid because deep down, he didn't trust you as much as he said he did. He's not dead, Robo Gadget. He's out of the house and with the paramedics now. And this place is surrounded."

There was a whine that cut through the air as Gadget pushed a switch and set the weapon to highest power.

"_Don't make me blow a hole in you..."_

Robo Gadget fixed him with an unnerving stare as he considered his options silently.

"I'll come with you," he said quietly.

Gadget stepped back, keeping the weapon trained on the android as he made his way to the bedroom door.

"Don't try anything."

"I wont..." Robo Gadget said in a hushed voice.

Gadget took another step back, keeping the weapon aimed firmly on Robo Gadget.

The android stood there for a moment in silence, and then he looked at the Inspector.

"Lets go," Gadget said calmly.

_"No!"_ yelled the android, grabbing at his laser and throwing his weight against him.

Gadget hit the wall and the laser went off, blowing a hole in the wall and sending plaster raining down.

Robo Gadget still had him, and with Gadget's arm transformed into a heavy weapon, the android had him at a disadvantage. Gadget wound out his other arm, wrapping it around Robo Gadget's throat tighter and tighter, catching him in a grip like a python as he struggled to right his aim on the laser.

Robo Gadget stepped back, dragging Gadget with him and both fell heavily, cyborg and android locked together as they rolled down the long flight of stairs, coming to a crashing stop at the bottom.

Gadget blinked as blood ran into his eye. He tried to raise the laser but the weapon was dark now, its power unit cracked by the fall.

Robo Gadget was still struggling as Gadget kept his other arm extended and wrapped like coiled rope about his neck.

_"Give it up!"_ Gadget said, breathing heavily, _"You can't win this!"_

Robo Gadget aimed a kick, but achieved nothing as his knee hit a metallic groin plate.

Gadget was still struggling on top of him.

"That didn't hurt me but I _think_ you just dented your knee!" he remarked, and pulled the coiled arm tighter about the android's neck.

Gadget flexed his other arm and the damaged laser slid out of sight, replaced by a human hand once more.

"_Go Go –"_

His words were choked off as Robo Gadget rolled over, slamming him to the floor and clamping a hand about this throat as Gadget fought for air.

"I'm _not_ going to jail!" Robo Gadget gasped, as mechanical sounds groaned and creaked inside his neck from the pressure of Gadget's coiled arm.

Gadget pulled tighter on the grip he had about the androids neck. Robo Gadget gasped for air, blinked as his functions became impaired.

There was no time to think about all that had gone before, he had to forget this was Robo Gadget, and remember only that he was subduing a dangerous, out of control android. As Robo Gadget briefly relaxed his grip on his throat, Gadget had only seconds, and he used them wisely:

_"Go Go gadget automatic pistol!"_ he said breathlessly.

The gun slid into his hand.

Gadget jammed it to his chest, a fraction to the side of his mechanical heart, and then he pulled the trigger.

Robo Gadget froze as the weapon discharged, his body jolted with the force of the bullet hitting his chest, and then the android slumped on top of him, deactivated, with his eyes still open.

Gadget lay there for a moment as he fought to regain his breath, then he rolled over and wound his extended arm off the robot's neck.

Robo Gadget was not dead. He looked dead, simply because the bullet had severed some internal cable function, but his electronic brain was still intact and the cable could easily be fixed. The android was certainly under control now...

Gadget got up off the floor, paused to stretch his aching back and then looked up the long flight of stairs and shook his head; he was getting older, he was sure he could have easily taken a tumble like that years ago and come off it without a scratch...

He stepped over Robo Gadget and glanced in the hallway mirror. He had a small cut about his eye. It was superficial and after cleaning it up, simply holding the cybernetic skin together would encourage rapid healing that left no scar. A third hand extended from his hat and wiped away the blood with a handkerchief, and then the hand pinched the skin together and Gadget watched as cybernetic flesh bonded seamlessly, it was as if the wound had never happened.

But that was as far as he could go with his own repairs, his laser weapon was damaged. That would have to be removed and fixed. But it would have been much worse, and he knew it.

He focused on his internal wire communication and in his mind, the channel opened up.

"Gadget?" Said Sanford anxiously, "What happened?"

"Robo Gadget went crazy. I've temporarily deactivated him. The crisis has been resolved, send the message through to Quimby, tell him it's over."

Then Gadget paused in the hallway as he looked down sadly at Robo Gadget.

_"I guess Kramer was right about you all the long,"_ he said quietly, _"He didn't trust you either – that's why he put off telling you the truth..."_

And Robo Gadget lay there frozen, his eyes open as he stared at nothing.

He stepped back over Robo Gadget and made his way to the front door.

"It's all clear!" he yelled as Quimby's men rushed across the lawn.

Gadget stepped outside, took in some fresh air and then walked over to the waiting Squad cars, where Quimby was telling an officer _to keep those women under control_...

Gadget looked past the cop and saw Cindi and Robo Brenda in the back of a squad car. Robo Brenda had Fifi in her arms and both women were tearful.

_"What's happened?"_ Robo Brenda yelled through an open window.

"Why did Kramer get hurt?" Cindi demanded.

"I want to know what's going on!" Robo Brenda yelled again, "Someone tell me, _please!_"

And Gadget saw the look on Quimby's face and he shook his head.

"No," he said, "_You_ talk to her. You explain this is about Kramer not being honest."

Quimby was confused by his remark.

"I'm lost, Gadget. What's this about?"

Gadget explained quickly.

"Kramer was Robo Brenda's sperm donor. But he never told her or Robo Gadget. I guess he must have decided to finally get the truth out, by what Robo Gadget told me. But that android has water damage, he doesn't understand things the way the rest of us do. _So he thought Kramer was having an affair with his girlfriend and he tried to beat him to death for it._"

The Chief briefly closed his eyes as he shook his head.

"What a mess..."

"You'd better explain," Gadget said, "I've done my duty as peacekeeper. I blew a hole in an internal cable – he can be reactivated."

The Chief stared at him in disbelief.

"What makes you think that will ever happen after what he's done?"

Gadget shrugged.

"I don't know," he replied honestly, "What I saw in him, in that house when I had to take him down – it makes me think Kramer wasn't sure about him, maybe that's why he put off telling him for so long. I guess there's going to be a meeting and a decision will have to be made."

"It's difficult," the Chief agreed, "We can't just shut him down, an action like that would plunge android rights back into the dark ages."

"And it's _not_ my problem," Gadget replied, "I'm going home to apologize to my wife because I've got an internal laser that needs fixing. She hates it when I bust up my gadgets."

The Chief nodded.

"Thank you," he added, "You did a fine job to day, Inspector."

Gadget didn't even look back as walked to his car, feeling weary but thankful that the crisis was finally over.

* * *

The drive home was beneath a shade of late afternoon sinking towards evening. The fields looked like spun gold beneath the amber skies and Gadget thought of home and felt warm in his heart as he started to smile.

It didn't matter what the day brought with it, in this town, months could pass without a single incident of crime, but when it happened, it could be bad, even downright awful. He couldn't think of a worse crime to be faced with than an old friend being beaten by Robo Gadget...

But he could let go of it all now, because when he got home, when he closed the door, he stopped being the Inspector and simply became Gadget, he left the legend that surrounded him on the doorstep ready to pick up again the next day, rather like the way he took off his trench coat and fedora hat and hung them up when he finished work.

"Today was tough," the Gadget Mobile remarked.

"But it's over with now," Gadget replied, and as he spoke, the shining monuments of Steel Temple flashed by glowing gold in the sunset, and he didn't give the place a second thought.

They drove on towards home and Gadget spoke up again.

"I don't think those nightmares will bother me again."

"So Dr Montgomery did a good job?"

Gadget looked down at the face on the screen.

"She did okay. But not quite as well as she would have _liked_ to do..."

"What do you mean?" asked the Gadget Mobile.

He shook his head as he smiled again.

"It doesn't matter," he replied, and then he laughed, recalling the frustrated look in her eyes when he had turned her down and walked out the door. _It was nice to know that so-called therapist had been wrong, she had talked like she knew everything – clearly she didn't, because she hadn't expected him to turn her down like that..._

Gadget reached home and parked the car.

As he got out, he heard the Gadget Mobile say goodnight.

"See you in the morning," he replied, and before he had reached the front porch, the car was snoring.

* * *

Gadget unlocked the door and went inside.

He hung up his hat and coat and then heard Brenda call to him.

"Come in the front room, I've got something to tell you!" she said.

"I know," Gadget called back as he walked up the hallway, "I can guess what's up... you heard the news about what happened today..."

And he went into the front room.

"Surprise!" Megan said excitedly.

He looked at her as she sat next to Felix and first of all noticed Felix had opted to have his blinded eye covered with a metal eye patch.

"What do you think, Daddy?" Megan said keenly.

Gadget looked at Felix, who smiled back at him.

"It's...not exactly the latest trend in permanent cybernetic enhancement, but I like it. I think its..." he paused, searching for the right words.

"Old school?" Felix suggested.

Gadget snapped his fingers.

"_That's_ the words I was looking for!"

And as the two men looked at each other, Gadget felt a warmth growing in his heart; it was fondness and admiration for Felix Todd, because he felt as if in Felix, he had finally met someone who he could identify with, whose pain had come close to matching his own. When he thought of Megan's new boyfriend, he didn't even think about the fact that Felix had been one of the scientists responsible for rebuilding his cyborg body so long ago – now all he saw was a man who he considered kindred, they were brothers in pain and survival and flesh wired into circuitry...

Megan spoke up again.

"I wasn't talking about his eye patch, Dad!"

And she held out her hand, making a second attempt to flash the diamond ring on her wedding finger.

Gadget stared at it.

Brenda walked over to him and kissed his cheek.

"Our daughter got engaged today."

As her words sunk in, Gadget fell silent.

"But we're not arranging the date for the wedding," Felix added nervously, "This is a whole new way of doing things for me...I'm in no rush..."

Megan got up and looked at her father.

"What's the matter? Don't you approve? I need to you to be happy for me, it matters so much, I know I'm young, but I do love him and he loves me and like he said, we won't be getting married for a long time yet –"

"_Megan,"_ Gadget paused and took in a slow breath as he blinked back tears, and then he smiled and pride shone in his eyes.

He looked to Felix and then back at his daughter.

"_I always thought you'd marry a cyborg,"_ he said fondly, and put his arms around her and gave her a hug.

Felix stood up.

"So you're okay about it?" he asked cautiously.

Gadget let go of Megan and turned to Felix.

"Okay about it? I'll _show_ you how okay I am about it!"

And he pulled Felix into a bear hug, and both men laughed.

Brenda watched as Gadget and Felix hugged and laughed together, feeling rather surprised, because she had not expected him to bond in such a brotherly way with anyone – since his cyborg conversion Gadget had always felt slightly set apart from other guys... Then she thought about it, and then she got it:

Gadget's best friend was Sanford, but even with Sanford, there was little physical closeness. It was different with Felix - because he was a cyborg. _They had very different mods, but all the same, Gadget could identify with him..._

Brenda watched as Gadget and Felix hugged again, and then started to talk about the future. Gadget wanted to plan a party to celebrate, even though Felix, who was not romantic and certainly shy of the idea of marriage, was in no rush to speed things up. Megan had never seemed happier, too. Brenda looked at her family and it suddenly occurred to her that after all that had happened, it seemed as if the dark times were finally behind them, things were starting to look brighter again...

* * *

An hour later, while Sanford Scolex was lying back on his bed after a long shift at the control center, Penny came into the bedroom and handed him the phone.

"What now?" Sanford complained, sitting up and stroking the back of Mad Cat, who was nestled up beside him looking like a ball of well groomed black and white fur.

"Megan and Felix are engaged!" she exclaimed.

"_Really?"_

He took the phone from her.

"Sanford, listen –"Gadget began, but Sanford spoke up at once:

"Oh Gadget, I don't know what to say! Felix Todd? That foul mouthed bad tempered fellow who used to work at Braydon Industries? Lets hope its just a crush, I mean, Megan could do _so_ much better if she'd stuck with my Riley -"

_"Stop it, fat boy!"_ Penny hissed.

There was a pause, and then Gadget finally answered him.

"Actually, while I'm sorry she didn't stay with Riley, I am glad she's with Felix. He's a nice guy. You just have to get to know him, and then you see a completely new side to him. And he's been through a lot with the cybernetic work, he's gone through hell - I can relate to that."

"Maybe you can, but Gadget, he's older than her and he's not exactly the nicest guy in the world, or the most patient."

Gadget lowered his voice.

"I know that, but everyone has faults, Sanford. And they love each other. I know he's not very good at showing it like she does, but they're very happy together. Isn't that the most important thing?"

Sanford gave a sigh. He knew opposing the relationship would only serve to drive a wedge between him and Gadget, because it was clear his best friend was happy about the relationship.

"Well, if you're happy about it and they're made for each other like you think, it's good news," he replied, "I just hope it works out in the long term."

"There's no reason to think it won't," Gadget replied, "And we're having a few people over for drinks to celebrate on Saturday. You and Penny are invited. And so is Riley, if he wants to come."

"I'm not sure I should tell Riley," Sanford said, "He still misses Megan terribly."

"Well the engagement's not a secret; he's going to hear about it sooner or later."

"I'll have a think about it. I'm not sure I should tell him just yet, but Penny and I will be there."

"That's great," Gadget said warmly, "See you tomorrow, then – or should I say, _hear_ from you – I'm back at work now, so we've got the channel open all day."

"Right, speak tomorrow," Sanford said, and then he ended the call.

As he put the phone down and lay back against his pillow, he gave another sigh.

"Well that's just about the _worst_ news I could hear!" he exclaimed, "Megan's engaged to Felix Todd! What _does_ she see in One Eyed Jack?"

Penny sat down on the bed and shot him a disapproving look.

_"His name is Felix!"_

"Okay then, what does she see in One Eyed _Felix?_" he complained, starting to sulk as his fingers burrowed into the cats fur and he stroked it whilst deep in thought, "I mean, he's older than her, he's got absolutely no patience, he's insensitive, rude – and don't forget his freaky kink thing for cosmetic cybernetics, he's really weird for that, he's –"

"_He's a cyborg." _

Penny and Sanford looked up to see Riley standing in the doorway.

His eyes were glazed with tears.

"Don't bother telling me to look for someone else – I heard everything you just said, she's gone, I've lost her, she's with him because he's a cyborg just like her old man. _I cant compete with that!_"

And Riley stifled a sob, and turned sharply from the doorway, heading for his own room.

"Oh no!" Sanford said in despair, and got off the bed and hurried out of the room as he called to his son.

* * *

Penny took a slow walk to the door way, then paused and listened as Mad Cat shot her a disapproving look, as if the cat knew she was spying on his master.

She listened carefully. Riley sounded tearful, and by the volume of his voice she guessed they were talking in his bedroom with the door open...

Penny stepped out into the hallway and listened some more.

"I've thought about it," Riley was saying tearfully, "But there's no way...I couldn't get mods just to make her happy..."

His words shot ice through Penny's blood as she recalled all her Uncle Gadget had told her long ago about the events of the other timeline, when Riley had been almost entirely android following an accident – and suffering such rejection of his cyborg body that it drove him to the brink of suicide... he couldn't _ever_ go down that road again, even to a mild degree, because although the past had been changed, everyone was still here and still had the capacity within them to play out the same parts under the right circumstances. Riley had a deep sense of revulsion at the thought of anything cybernetic. _For him to talk for getting mods just to please Megan was insanity..._

And then Sanford spoke up. Penny started to smile as she heard the kind, fatherly tone in his voice as he told him not to worry. Then she heard what _else_ he said, and her smile vanished.

"Don't worry about Felix Todd!" Sanford told his son,"He's no threat to you – you're young and handsome and everything Megan dreams of! I'm sure this sympathy thing she's got for him will soon pass. _Lets hope they break up_."

_"Shut up fat boy!"_ she whispered as she heard malice creeping into his voice, reminding her of the Sanford Scolex of Scolex Industries, the ruthless villain he had once been so long ago...

Sanford was still talking.

"He's not going to last five minutes with her!" he added, "I mean, I'm sure she feels sorry for him, and maybe the cyborg thing reminds her of her father – but this is _Felix Todd_ we're talking about – he's foul mouthed, bad tempered, he's kinky..._she's with a one eyed weirdo, Riley!_ It won't be long before she calls the whole thing off."

And Riley's tone brightened.

"_Yeah,"_ he added, _"You're right, Dad – what does she see in a dirty old one eyed freak anyway?"_

And Sanford laughed darkly.

"That's the spirit, son. Don't let her get you down."

They spoke for a few more moments, and then Sanford began to walk out of his sons room.

Penny thought about ducking back in the bedroom, but then she changed her mind, because she was disgusted at all Sanford had just said about Felix.

As he left his son's room and closed the door behind him and then walked back up the hallway, he was rather surprised to see Penny standing there with her arms folded as she glared at him.

"What have I done?" he said, making a poor job of feigning innocence as he laughed nervously.

Penny's eyes narrowed and she struggled to keep her voice down as she held back on yelling at him.

"_Cut the BS, fat boy! I heard everything you said to your son!"_

"I was only trying to cheer him up!"

"By bitching about Felix?"

He laughed again, and it reminded her of Sanford back in the bad old days, and irritated her beyond belief.

"_Bitching?" _he exclaimed._  
_

Penny grabbed at his little finger and gave it a twist.

Sanford yelped.

"_Stop doing your karate-origami-self__ defense__ or what ever it's called on me, it hurts!"_

Penny let go of his finger.

"If I find out you pull _any_ kind of stunt to break up Megan and Felix we're over!"

His eyes widened as he looked at her.

"No, I swear, I wouldn't do that!"

"_Don't lie to me!"_

Penny lowered her voice again, adding, "I'm not stupid, he's your oldest son, you'd do _anything_ for him! Just _don't_ make other people suffer in the process!"

Now Sanford was genuinely upset.

"I wouldn't do such a thing. You're talking like I'm still Sanford the bad guy, this _Claw_ fellow I never became! Just because I was bad in another timeline, it _doesn't_ mean I'd do this same in this one!"

"But you're still the same person," Penny said darkly, "It's _always_ going to be in you, that urge to be Claw. It may not come out as a desire for world domination, but it sure as hell might come out as going low enough to break up Megan and Felix!"

Sanford shook his head, denying it even though in his own heart, he knew she was right...he would do _anything_ to see his son happy again...

"I would never do anything to hurt you or anyone you love," he promised her, "Or anyone Gadget cares about!"

Penny studied his eyes, and her gaze lingered as if she could see through him and that look unnerved him greatly.

"_You'd better not,"_ she said coldly_, "Or you'll have me to deal with. Watch your step, fat boy - I wont warn you again!"_

Then Penny walked off down the hall, leaving Sanford standing alone as he thought about all she said:

He knew she was right, and felt torn because it seemed he had to choose between loyalty to his son, or loyalty to everyone else in his life who he loved dearly – _and_ _that choice would not be an easy one to make..._


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

After the happy evening he had spent with his family planning the engagement party, Gadget felt slightly guilty to be taking such joy from life in the midst of such trouble that surrounded others.

He had made a point of not thinking about work while he was at home, but it was morning now and his trench coat and fedora were back on, he had left the house and was starting another working day as Gadget the Inspector, the man of legend who left the myth outside the door when he went home at night to enjoy being Gadget, the family man...

It was difficult to walk into the room where Kramer was recovering from the attack, he had known him for years and to see him looking so battered after Robo Gadget's attack made him feel very sad to think that the injuries Kramer had suffered had been inflicted by his own creation.

"I spoke to Robo Gadget," he said quietly as he sat down at his bedside, "He told me what happened. You should have told him the truth a long time ago, maybe this could have been avoided."

Kramer blinked back tears and looked at his girlfriend Cindi, who was sitting at the other side of his bed.

"It was difficult..."

Cindi nodded in agreement.

"He told me the truth a while back. But I said maybe he should wait and tell him when we were all together. I didn't want him to do it alone – and look what happened!"

Kramer blinked again. His left eye was black and there was a bruise on his cheek bone. His wrist was bandaged and his other arm was in plaster.

"I got a few fractures and a bad concussion. But I can't lay the blame on Robo Gadget, not _all _of it."

"But he almost _killed _you!" Cindi said sharply.

"How's Robo Brenda taken the news?" Gadget wondered.

"Very well," Cindi said, frowning as she thought about her best friends reaction to finding out Kramer had been her donor, "She was so _happy _about it!"

And Gadget thought about how fond Robo Brenda had always been of Kramer, and he chose to stay silent about the possibility that the female android had feelings that perhaps ran deeper for the man who built her than she cared to share...

"What's going to happen to Robo Gadget?" Kramer asked anxiously, "I don't want him getting punished for this. There were reasons why he went crazy, we've established that."

Gadget took in a slow breath.

"He's currently deactivated. I had to use force to subdue him. He was out of control, Dr Kramer. He will not be reactivated until a date has been set for a formal hearing to discuss what happened and what should be done next."

Kramer stared at him.

"No! You can't do that to him! Just reactivate him, send him home to me – I'll fix whatever problem he has, I'll reprogram him –"

"_Oh no."_

Kramer looked at Cindi.

All trace of compassion had vanished from her eyes.

"No," she said again, "He went psycho, Kramer! And you _seriously_ expect him to come back home? You want him to live under the same roof as me and Robo Brenda and Fifi?"

"I know him!" Kramer insisted, "He wouldn't harm any of us!"

Cindi shook her head.

"You wont stop defending him, will you?"

"I'll never stop defending him," Kramer replied, "I'll stand up for him in court and explain why he did those things, I'll fight for him all the way and I'll bring him back home where he belongs!"

Cindi got up.

"That's enough," she said as her eyes glazed with tears, "I'm sorry, but I cant take any more of this. As long as that androids around, you'll always be there to defend him. _And I cant live with that. I'm leaving you_."

"What?" Kramer exclaimed, "You can't just -"

"Worry about your psycho android, I'm _out_ of here!" Cindi said sharply, and she walked out of the room and closed the door behind her.

Kramer was still tearful as he looked at Gadget.

"I can't turn my back on him," he said, "He needs me to fight for him – he's got no one else."

"Robo Brenda wont defend him?" Gadget asked.

Kramer shook his head.

"She took one look at me and then went back to the house and saw what he'd done, and that was it - she said she was through with him and never wanted to see him again. She didn't want a crazy person near her or Fifi."

"I'm sorry," Gadget said, "I wish things could have worked out differently. There's no date set for the hearing yet. It could take months."

"Is that because everyone is hoping the case will just be forgotten, so they can leave him shut down in some locked storage room?"

"No," Gadget said kindly, "He is in secure storage, but the reason there's a delay is because you need to get over what happened and we need to look into what's actually wrong with him, what can be fixed and what can't be fixed. You will be invaluable with that research. No one wants to abandon him or treat him like scrap metal. That won't happen. But it _will_ be a long time before this case is resolved."

Kramer fell silent for a moment, and then he slowly nodded.

"Fine," he said in a hushed voice, "But I _will _fight for him. I'll defend him all the way no matter who turns their back on me."

Gadget got up, pausing to gently place his hand on his shoulder.

"You know where I am if you need me," he told him,"And I hope you're feeling better soon."

Then he turned away and walked out of the room, still feeling sad that the situation with Robo Gadget had ended so badly.

* * *

By the time Gadget had made his way over to the cybernetics center, he had let go of the Robo Gadget case and fixed his thoughts on something that made him smile: Family.

He took the elevator to the second floor and saw his wife leaving the lab with Megan and Felix.

They were all looking happy and relaxed and as he walked over to join them, he was smiling.

"How was the scan?" he asked.

Felix Todd ran his fingers through a dark fringe that was starting to partly shade his silver eye patch and smiled back at Gadget.

"Every single new wire inside me is working perfectly. The power is flowing, the cybernetic fluid is doing its job and I have no more complications."

"That's great news!"

Gadget hugged him tightly and then let go again.

"I've got there," Felix said, "I've come through it. No more connection failures, I'm officially okay!"

Gadget grabbed his hand and shook it.

"No one could have fought harder for this than you," he said warmly.

Then the elevator doors slid back and Taylor Braydon stepped out.

He hurried over to them and looked intently at Gadget.

"I heard the news about what happened with Dr Kramer!" he exclaimed, "I'm glad he's going to be okay. And I've told Mayor Wilson that I'm willing to help to finance any kind of rehabilitation Robo Gadget may require. It's the least I can do for a brother in man metal."

Megan frowned.

"But you're human..." she said, and Brenda glanced at her and shook her head, discreetly reminding her to humor Taylor and his notion that androids were part of 'his people'.

"What did the Mayor say to your suggestion?" Gadget wondered.

Taylor shrugged.

"Not much. She said it would be a long time before a date was decided for the hearing."

And then he turned to Felix.

"Dr Todd!" he said warmly, "It's great to see you again! It was such a shame you had to leave Braydon Industries, but I hear you're doing a fine job in your new career - what's wrong with your eye?"

Felix took in a slow breath, trying to tolerate Taylor, who under any circumstance was capable of giving him a headache very rapidly indeed...

"My eye, Taylor? _I lost it_."

"Oh!"

Taylor looked down at the floor, then behind him, then down at the floor again before looking back at Felix.

"What are you doing?" Felix asked as tension began to build in his voice.

"I was looking for it," Taylor replied.

Felix glared at him.

"_What?"_

"Your eye," Taylor said, "It can't be far away...but they're round, so I guess they can _roll._..."

Brenda stifled a giggle and turned to Gadget, who swiftly looked down at the floor as he tried not to laugh too.

"No that's not what he means," Megan said, "He lost his eye because –"

"I know, Margaret," Taylor replied, "I get it now..."

Felix briefly winced as he brought his hand up to his brow and rubbed his temples, and then looked sharply back at Taylor.

"_Why_ do you call her Margaret? She's Megan. MEGAN. It's _not_ difficult!"

"He always calls her that," Gadget said.

Taylor looked intently at Felix.

"Did you sneeze with your eyes open?"

Felix looked back at him and slowly shook his head as he summoned all of his strength not to lose his temper.

"No...What the hell are you talking about now?"

"Ways that eyes can fall out," Taylor replied, "Did you pick your nose and go _way_ too far up?"

"_God damn it..."_ Felix muttered as he briefly rubbed his temples again.

Taylor snapped his fingers.

"Is it under your eye patch and you just forgot it was there?"

And he smiled.

Felix glared at him. He slowly sucked in an angry breath; he had a look about him like a dog that was about to snarl, so Gadget spoke up quickly:

"He had a connection failure and had to have it removed."

Taylor blinked.

"Oh...okay."

"Felix and Megan are engaged," Brenda added, swiftly changing the subject, "We're having a party on Saturday and you're welcome to come along."

And Felix gave a groan and cursed under his breath.

Taylor's eyes lit up and he smiled a big goofy grin.

"Great! I _love_ parties! I'll bring Emma too!"

And then he checked his watch.

"Any way, I just wanted to catch up with you Gadget and let you know what I'm planning for the Robo Gadget case. I'd better get back to work now."

And he smiled at Felix and Megan.

"Congratulations on your engagement, I'll see you Saturday."

And then he remembered something else, and he looked intently at Felix.

"Now you've just got the _one_ eye," he said in a low voice, "Be careful... shut your eyes when you sneeze and _don't _pick your nose too hard in case,...you know, the other one might..._pop out_..."

Felix glared at him and took a step forward and Gadget gently closed his hand around his arm, holding him back.

Taylor smiled brightly.

"See you all on Saturday!" he said, and headed back towards the elevator.

"_Idiot!"_ fumed Felix.

Brenda giggled. Gadget laughed softly as he shook his head.

"Come on," Megan said as she took Felix by the hand, "Let's get out of here...and no sneezing with your eye open!"

And mother and daughter giggled.

"It's _not_ funny!" Felix protested.

Gadget was still laughing.

"It is," he replied as he laughed again.

"No it's not. The guy gives me a headache!" Felix complained, and then they walked off down the corridor together, heading for the exit.

* * *

The days followed quietly, with no more crime to report and that meant lazy days for Gadget and Sanford, who were tempted to play around with the virtual rockets system, but Gadget decided against it because he had only just come back off suspension and didn't want to push his luck.

On the evening of the party the mood started off light, with guests enjoying drinks in the garden, making the most of the warm summer evening.

Taylor Braydon was talking to his wife Emma, who had steered him away from Felix Todd in case he made any more eye remarks. Chief and Mrs Quimby were in conversation with Gadget and Brenda, despite Gadgets looks and nudges to his wife to try and make an excuse to get him away from Quimby, because that guy lived and breathed the subject of work even when off duty.

Penny and Sanford had turned up slightly late, and Sanford had warmly congratulated Felix on his engagement, while Penny kept a close eye on her husband, ready to spot, and put a stop to, any hint of resentment or spite that might have found its way into the conversation.

Robo Brenda was absent, preferring to stay home with Fifi. The news that Cindi had left Kramer had come as a surprise but after all he had said about standing by Robo Gadget, perhaps it wasn't such a surprise after all...

The subject of Robo Gadget was not brought up, the conversation being kept light and happy, because no one wanted to think about an android who had turned murderous – it was the deepest fear of all those who were unsure about robotics, bringing back old questions that had surfaced when the science was still in its infancy: _Can they really be trusted?_

While Penny spoke to Felix, and Sanford headed over to the table where the drinks were laid out and started the process of getting drunk quickly because social situations made him nervous, Megan walked around the side of the house to catch five minutes peace and quiet away from the crowd.

* * *

_"Megan..."_

She had been watching the sunset, but turned towards the back of the garden where the wall backed on to the beach, and her heart skipped a beat as she saw Riley Scolex standing there. He didn't have a drink in his hand. Then she thought about it and noticed sand on his shoes and guessed he had walked up the beach and climbed over the wall...

"I thought you didn't want to come tonight."

He walked over to her, pain and heartache burned in his eyes and it made her own heart ache for all she had lost.

"I know you love him," he said quietly, "But I love you too. I always will. _Please don't marry him_."

The speed at which that pain in her heart increased knocked her breath from her lungs as she blinked away tears.

_"Don't do this, Riley!"_

But hope shone in his eyes as he looked at her.

"You're crying over me? So you still love me?"

She shook her head.

"No..._Yes_...but not enough to be with you...I can't be with you now, I'm with Felix and I care about him so much."

"Do you love him enough to marry him?"

"_Yes!"_ she said defensively.

"I think you should marry me instead," Riley replied, "Because we both know how we feel and it wont change."

And he put his arms around her and held her, and his closeness and the scent of his skin felt like coming home after a long absence.

Megan stifled a sob and then let go of him.

"No, "she said, wiping her eyes,"I cant do this now. You should leave..."

"I'm not leaving until you give me an answer," Riley told her, "I want to know if you still love me, because I don't want to lose you."

And Megan said nothing as she thought about Felix, and then how her heart had started to ache all over again for Riley...

* * *

Gadget had been surprised to learn during the course of conversation that Bess Nightingale was leaving town, she had put in for a transfer to another cybernetics center outside of Riverton. The thought that she was leaving made him sad, but only in a vague sense, because the memories of the other time line were distant now, because the chip that had held a copy of every second of their other lifetime was now destroyed...

Gadget had left Brenda talking to Quimby, and gone around the side of the house and out into the quiet part of the garden to get five minutes peace.

Instead, he saw his daughter talking to Riley Scolex.

Gadget walked over to them and looked hard at Riley.

"Sanford said you wasn't coming. So how come you're out here, sneaking in the back way?"

And he turned to Megan and noticed her eyes were glassy.

"What's he been saying?"

"I'd better go," Riley said quietly, and stepped over the wall and began to climb down the slope back towards the beach.

Megan was wiping her eyes and Gadget felt a flicker of alarm as he thought about the future, a future that seemed so well set out, and hoped nothing would go wrong...

Megan looked into her fathers eyes.

"I wish Riley hadn't showed up...I _do_ still care about him. I love Felix, but what if I don't love him enough?"

Gadget thought of Felix Todd, the man who he felt such a close connection to, and as he spoke again, his words came from a desire to keep the family together, just as it was, and to keep Felix in the family too.

"You don't love Riley," he said to her kindly, "You'll always care for him because he was your first love. Felix is the one for you. He's a great guy, and he's been through so much...please don't break his heart, I think it would kill him if he lost you."

As she took in all he had said, confusion still rested in her heart. She thought of Felix and slowly nodded.

"You're right, Dad. I do love Felix," she promised him, and then Gadget stood and watched as she walked back down the garden.

Felix had just stepped outside to look for her and he smiled as she walked over to him. Megan put her arms around him, kissed him and then embraced him tightly.

Gadget turned back to wall, looking over it and out to sea as waves rolled to shore.

He wasn't certain if he had done the right thing in telling Megan to stay with Felix, and he was pretty sure if Allison the shrink had looked at the situation, she would have told him that he was putting his own bond with Felix first, simply because he felt a connection because of the cyborg element they shared...

_But Gadget already knew this, so did not need a shrink to work it out for him..._

He continued to stand alone as he watched the sea run to shore and the sun dipped lower in an amber sky:

_Life was perfect, for now_.

_Tomorrow that could change, but he was living for today - and at least for today, all was well..._

**The End**

**Author Note: This is the end of Book SIX, in what will be a ****TEN BOOK**** series. **

**The story continues in ****IG Fan Fic Series 2013 BOOK 7: "MirrorFace".**


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